Through the Rift
by Fyrngarm
Summary: Once a human, now a Lombax, Adken searches for answers to why and how he was brought to this universe. But when strange scientists and mad Markazians get in his way, he has no choice but to face the threats that present themselves on his quest to find answers. Set after Nexus.
1. Return to the Clock

"After all this time, we're back here."

"Indeed Ratchet." Clank agreed, taking in the surroundings of the Great Clock for the first time in several years.

"Well, we'd better get going. Don't want to keep your old buddy Sigmund waiting, eh? Besides, I would rather have a last look round sooner than later. Don't want to delay our retirement from this hero business any more." Ratchet said whilst admiring the amazing architecture of the Great Clock.

"Yes Ratchet." Replied the small robot in agreement. "Ah, it appears he has already come to greet us."

As if on cue a medium sized robot came flying along towards the landing platform and came skidding to a stop just before hitting Aphelion.

"Sir! I mean, Clank! Welcome back!" Sigmund's excitement of having a visitor was obvious which put Clank at ease. Ratchet did not seem to fully notice the red robot's appearance however, the Lombax was still staring in awe at the clock at the centre of the universe; give or take fifty feet of course.

"It is good to see you again Sigmund,"

"If you'll follow me I'll take you round the place right now! I've got everything set up, as you requested."

Sigmund set off at a fair pace, tapping away at his computer with vigour whilst Ratchet and Clank strolled along behind him.

"You have been of great service to both me and Ratchet, Sigmund. We cannot thank you enough for doing this."

"No need to thank me. I'm glad to have some company and being able to show you round again, just like the old times!"

"Yes... Like those times." Clank replied with a melancholic tone to his voice. Ratchet took a sideways glance at him, "Anyway," Clank continued, quelling Ratchet's concern for his best friend, "Let us move onward."

Sigmund showed the duo around the whole of the Great Clock, making sure to make the tour as comprehensive as possible. The red robot added little anecdotes of his own, or sometimes ones that he had heard from Orvus, as well as recounting his and Clank's own adventures within the structure.

After several hours of Sigmund leading Ratchet and Clank around the trio finally arrived at the control room.

The Orvus chamber.

"Last time I was here..." Clank heard Ratchet mutter to himself before the Lombax shook his head slightly and continued forward.

The excitement of Sigmund was evident when he announced the last location on the tour, "And I give you, ladies and gentlemen! Lombaxes and robots! The, Orvus-"

Before Sigmund could finish his sentence a siren began wailing on the outside of the building. The tannoy announced '_dimension breach in the Polaris Galaxy, __Cerullean Sector, __Fastoon.'_

Sigmund jumped at the sound of the alarm and began typing away furiously at his computer occasionally glancing around in thought before going back to his work.

After remaining silent for a minute or so, to allow the robot to concentrate on sealing the breach, Ratchet whispered to Clank "Hey Clank, are there still breaches around then."

"It appears so Ratchet. Although, it is to be expected with all of the time travel the Fongoids did in the past. Running the Great Clock is not easy work."

"Ah ha!" Came an overly loud exclamation from Sigmund "Aaaand." He hit the last key in a grandiose gesture, "Breach, closed!"

"Excellent work Sigmund, it seems you have taken very well to being a _Senior _caretaker" Both Clank and Sigmund chuckled.

"It seems so Clank! Anyway, now that breach has been sorted let us get on with seeing the Orvus chamber!"

"If... If you don't mind I'm just gonna wait out here." Ratchet asked, the sadness in his voice was clear. "I wouldn't want to... Y'know."

"Of course Ratchet," Clank replied, placing his small robotic hand on his friend's ankle, "I shall only be a minute." With a quick backward glance and a reassuring smile Clank strode off alongside Sigmund into the chamber leaving Ratchet brooding outside. Although, Ratchet was not entirely thinking about what had transpired in that room a few years past; Ratchet was more concerned about what was on Fastoon.

_Why Fastoon? Normally Clank would have been the one telling me to be worried about something like this and I wouldn't give a damn, but now... Something makes me want to check it out._

_Ah what the heck, I have nothing better to do now. I may as well visit Fastoon one more time._

Ratchet resolved to talk to Clank about it later once they were on their way with Aphelion. He was almost sure Clank would agree. What he wasn't sure about was what might have come through the breach.


	2. The Breach

Dawn was creeping in through the window when Adken finally decided to put down the book he had been reading all night in favour of the comforts of his bed.

The 17 year old human had only been given the book yesterday too but had become so engrossed in the vivid tale that he had not realised how long he had been reading for until light became to drift in through the curtains.

Adken stretched his arms above his head and let out a long groan. _Ah, that's better. _He thought to himself as he curled up in the blankets for a moment, thinking over the story he had just read.

Having nothing else to do with his time, Adken often enjoyed reading fantasy novels, sci-fi novels and, more recently, engineering research journals which he managed to get on the building's only computer. Besides, he would be moving out in a year to go to university so he would have access to all these things as part of that. He was fortunate enough to have acquired a place on an apprenticeship scheme for engineering, which was his _other _favourite hobby. Aside from reading of course.

Ever since he was young Adken had displayed an unnatural talent for engineering or similar things. When he had been interviewed by BAE they had said he was one of the best applicants that they'd had in many years.

_I suppose there are _some _things I can take pride in, at least. _Adken thought to himself.

He sat up in bed and ran his hand through his scruffy auburn hair, as was a habit of his, before propping himself on the side of the bed and getting up to get some clothes.

_At least it's the weekend today, I get to go to the book store again. I can browse the books for a while at least before they kick me out for looking too long. I don't have any money to buy anything though. No money to call my own at least, considering my parents left me with nothing._

When Adken was young, before he could even remember them, his parents had left him abandoned somewhere out near the Forest of Dean to be found by a group of walkers the next morning. At least that's what the people at the orphanage told him had happened. Of course, he couldn't remember it.

The weird thing was that no one knew his surname. All that was known about him was that his name was Adken. People sometimes teased him about it but he normally shrugged off the insults; he had got used to it after going through all of high school being taunted for it. At least now that he was at college people seemed to be more accepting. It wasn't that he was antisocial, he was fairly socially adept, and he had a few friends. However, when your background is as his was people will always poke fun at you.

A sharp rap at the door came just as Adken was finishing putting on his jeans.

"Adken!"

It was one of the assistants, Laura. One whom had been working at Oak Hill orphanage since Adken could remember.

"We're having breakfast in a minute. Don't be late!"

"I'll be right down!" He replied to the muffled voice, donning an extra layer, to combat the cold, and putting on his trainers.

He walked out the room and trotted down the long flight of stairs to the bottom floor where he quickly grabbed some cereal off the table and wolfed it down with gusto. Staying up all night had made him rather hungry after all.

Once Adken had finished swallowing the last bit of milk in the bowl he cleared his plate and made swiftly out of the building calling behind him "I'll be back in a few hours Laura!"

"Adken, wait a second!" She called after him. The 17 year old turned around and waited for Laura to catch up with him.

"Here, you can take this." She handed over a crisp £10 note to him, "For spending on a book or something, considering you finished that other one in a night you need something to keep you going, hmm?"

After a moment of slight disbelief at the act of kindness, but also the knowledge that he had been up all night reading, Adken merely replied, "Thank you," Dipped his head in gratitude, grabbed his thick jacket, and headed out; Laura waving behind him.

Being six foot tall Adken managed to move at a brisk pace down towards the centre of Coleford, where his favourite little book store was. The auburn haired youth had made sure to wrap up extra warm, putting on several layers of various t-shirts and fleeces.

Adken had only discovered the store a year past but _The Omnilibrary_ had become his second home every Saturday. The owner didn't mind too much but if Adken stayed too long he generally _did _get kicked out. However, seeing as he had some money to spend today he was sure the shopkeeper wouldn't mind if he bought a book and had a browse for a few hours.

The little bell by the door tinkled as Adken pushed it open.

"Morning." He called over to the desk on the other side of the rather spacious room. The store was in a house of Victorian design, akin to many of the other buildings in Coleford centre. That meant that the high ceilings could accommodate for humongous book shelves which stood at least twelve feet tall. Since the establishment was also open plan there were many rows of these shelves running the length of the building, adding to the quirkiness but also the character of the place. The first time Adken had visited here on a cold November afternoon he had been amazed by it and had spent many hours looking around all the aisles and small reading areas.

"Morning." Came a faint call from one of the back rooms.

"You're free to look around for a while Adken." The voice continued.

"Thanks! I've got some money to spend though, would I be okay to look around for a little while first?"

"Sure thing mate. Go ahead." The owner of the shop remained in the back room. Adken knew that he recognised his voice, and this was their common greeting anyway. It allowed them both to do their respective tasks. And so, Adken got to browsing...

A few hours later Adken had managed to sift his way through a portion of the fantasy section, going through letters H to L of authors. Feeling satisfied about his progress in that section he moved further down towards the very back of the shop where the sci-fi section was.

Once he had made his way down there the Adken flicked through a few of the books, although none really grabbed his interest too much he had just found one by H.G. Wells when suddenly there was an almighty crack of, what he thought was, thunder from just down the aisle.

_That can't be right... It was perfectly sunny when I came in-_

Adken was about to finish his sentence to himself when he had turned around to see what appeared to be a huge bright blue rip which was oozing out a strange glowing light.

"What the-" Adken muttered to himself before the portal pulsed and he was swept off his feet by an unseen force.

"Argh!" He exclaimed "Crap! Help! Someone, argh..." Bookshelves began collapsing around him as the portal dragged him closer and closer at increasing speed before pulling him into the air and throwing him into and through the light.

All Adken felt after that was his body hitting hard ground before the shock got to him. Then he saw only darkness...


	3. The Deserted Planet

_Ugh... Wha... What happened? What was that thing... _

Adken felt a strong wind send sand whipping around his face. Although, he was only partly conscious so did not flinch from the gusts. Instead, he lay in the dry, compact dirt trying to comprehend his current situation.

That, he found difficult.

Considering he had just been sucked through what appeared to be a crack in the very fabric of time, he couldn't think straight. Nor was he expected to. What he was experiencing currently _was _incredibly strange.

_I feel really light headed…_

Still not able to muster the energy to move Adken remained still for a few more minutes to recover before finally managing propping himself upright.

That was, however, until he saw his oddly shaped fur covered feet with tattered trainers lying next to them. At which point he promptly collapsed again.

...

When he came to once more Adken quickly glanced around and, confirming that he was still in the same place, carefully sat up.

_What's happened to me? As far as I'm aware I was human ten minutes ago. __B__ut now... I've been, _changed. _I suppose the sensible thing to do would be to try and work out what I am. __Panicking won't really solve anything._

Feeling something brushing against his head he reached for the foreign object and felt a very long elongated triangle which seemed to be covered in fur. _Hmm, are these ears or? _His suspicion was confirmed when he heard a rather loud rustling. _Yep, definitely ears. What about-_

Just as the thought popped into his head he felt something brush against his leg.

_Huh? _

Reaching down the back of his trousers he grasped onto a long, fur coated object with a tufted end. Still baffled as to what this could be he gave it a slight tug which caused a sharp pain to sprout at the base of his spine.

_Tail. That is a tail. Wait a second. Why am I acting as if this is normal?! __I know I should try to keep calm but... But...__ I shouldn't have a tail! __O__r giant ears or th__e__se weird feet!_

Adken recoiled from his own body, causing himself to go sprawling in the sand.

Taking a few seconds to recover he sat back upright again.

_I shouldn't have assumed that I could keep control of myself__. I suppose i__t's not like I'm in some unknown place, having had my genetic structure entirely changed without having any say in it!_

Adken took several deep breaths and lay back down on the floor, and saw that the sky had a deep red hue to it. After gazing upwards for a few seconds and attempting to maintain his newly established calm demeanour, the youth admired the scenery noting the large sandstone formations almost resembling buildings. Pieces of metal jutted out of some of the rocks even forming cohesive structures in some places, suggesting previous inhabitation. Deciding that, since night seemed to be closing in, that it would be better to take shelter in one of the structures so as to get out of the wind.

Managing to stand up Adken struggled forward a few steps before almost losing his balance, due to his lack of control of his tail which was busy swinging around quite a bit, but managing to continue onwards until he reached the inside of the building. Once inside he propped himself up against a wall and took another few deep breaths to relieve himself.

_That… That was more difficult than I expected. _Adken thought, smiling grimly to himself.

Suddenly, something caught his attention on the floor. A small scrap of metal worn clean by the harsh weather gave off a reflective sheen causing a faint ray of light to reflect off it. Adken reached over and picked up the scrap. After fumbling with it a few times, due to being unfamiliar with the proportions of his hands, the youth managed to get a firm grip on the object and hold it up to his face.

What stared back at him, however; was quite unlike anything he had ever seen.

Adken saw; no, what Adken had _become_ was a peculiar creature. His face, akin to his tail, was covered in fur which was off-white in colour. Turning his head slightly to the side he stared in amazement at what he had managed to work out earlier were his ears. They were huge, triangular shaped things which slanted backwards almost like an elf's from one of those fantasy stories he used to read; although his had some differences. They were covered in the same off-white fur as the rest of his body with auburn stripes cutting through the other colour at regular intervals. A cat like nose lay in the centre of his face above which were two vibrant green eyes stared right back at him. He clenched his teeth together and opened his mouth slightly, only to be met by the reflection baring its fangs at him.

_This is what I am now… __S__ome__ sort of humanoid cat thing. So, sit-rep as the Americans say. I am stuck in what appears to be an alternate universe, not knowing where I am in said universe on a deserted planet as a cat creature. Great, I don't see how this could get any-_

Before he went any further he managed to stop himself. He wasn't superstitious, far from it; it was just any time someone said that it was almost a cue for an unfortunate event to occur.

As if the wind was reading Adken's thoughts it decided to send a large swathe of dust into the room that he was attempting to shelter in.

"Argh crap my eyes." Cursing he tried to cover his eyes from the sand buffeting into his face. After a few seconds however the gust subsided.

"That's better…" He muttered.

Deciding that he was getting nowhere just cursing and complaining to himself Adken moved himself over to the very corner of the room to prevent any more sandstorms getting to him and curled up to go to sleep.

...

Rest did not come easily for Adken. Several hours passed before darkness had fully enveloped the world around him and he succumbed to sleep. However, his dreams were even less restful…

_Adken saw himself in a barren landscape, surrounded by nothing but a few desert scrubs and the occasional skittering piece of wildlife hiding from the glare of the sun. Looking down at himself he noticed that he was human again, the distinct lack of fur confirmed that._

_Ahead of him stood two figures, their faces obscured by shadow despite the harsh sunlight. They appeared to be mostly human but something about them seemed off. Adken couldn't place a finger on it but he sensed that something was wrong._

"_Adken." One of the voices called out, echoing slightly. It was obviously male._

"_We've come to take you home Adken," A female voice now continued._

"_Where? Where's home?" He called into the distance the sound seeming to travel endlessly._

_Neither of the shadowed figures responded. Instead, they just faded into the ground and were no more…._

...

Adken woke up suddenly in shock, his fur standing on end.

_Why did that dream make me react like that? __I've never dreamt of anything as vividly as that.. _

The darkness still hung in the air but would soon dissipate; light from the sun was creeping in slowly over the horizon. Deciding that he wanted to watch the sun rise Adken got up and moved back out into the open area just outside the building. Last night's wind had subsided meaning that the sand remained peaceful allowing an undisturbed view of the magnificent sunrise over the planet above.

_At least if I'm stuck here until I can find a way back home, I can admire sights like this. _Adken thought to himself grinning slightly for the first time since he arrived, staring off into the distance as light slowly crept over the once magnificent city and into the ruins of a grand building which resided below.

…

"Aphelion – plot coordinates for Fastoon."

"Plotting co-ordinates." The sleek red ship replied. "Co-ordinates for Fastoon have been calculated. Do you wish to engage autopilot?"

"If you could Aphelion." Ratchet stretched, yawning widely, "I'm feeling rather lazy today."

"As you wish Ratchet. Although next time you could pilot yourself rather than being so lazy."

Ratchet laughed in response, "I'm going to be retired soon! I'm going to have to get used to being _very _lazy."

"Another example of your infallible Lombax wit Ratchet," Aphelion retorted.

"Well I do suppose we've still got one place left to visit; so I'm not officially off the job just yet." Ratchet admitted. However, the mention of his and Clank's impending retirement brought a niggling doubt from the back of his mind from the past day in the great clock.

'_Dimension breach in the Polaris Galaxy, Cerullean Sector, Fastoon'._

_Well I suppose I'll find out soon enough what that breach has in store. Hopefully it's just a few Fongoids and not some huge Agorian army come to fight me to avenge their fallen comrades or something… I suppose I do have at least one advantage over them, I own a RYNO VII after all._

"It will take us a while to travel to Fastoon, Ratchet. Would you care for a game of Galactic Chess to pass the time?" Clank enquired.

"Anything to break your 67 win streak bud." Ratchet retorted, grinning at the thought of something to take his mind of more serious issues during their monotonous journey to Fastoon.

Clank chuckled, "67 games out of 67 played Ratchet."

Ratchet waved his hand in a fanning motion as if wafting away Clank's taunt.

"I know pal, I know. But _this _time I'll beat you."

It only took Clank forty minutes. However it was a new record for how long Ratchet had survived against him.

"Damn it I almost had you there!" Ratchet exclaimed in frustration.

"_Almost_ being the key part of that sentence Ratchet."

Ratchet shook his head, grinning to himself. "Ah well, Fastoon shouldn't be too far. What's our ETA Aphelion?"

"15 hours." She replied bluntly.

"Oh. Fancy another game Clank?"

"Of course, Ratchet," replied the small robot, smiling.

...

_I wonder what's over the horizon? There seems to be just endless desert…_

Adken had managed to clamber all the way to the top of the building that he had slept in. The climb had taken a lot of energy out of him but it was definitely worth it, simply for the view over the vast desert dunes that spanned before him like waves on a calm ocean.

_Ah well, the sand obscures most of it anyway. I may as well head back down now. Need to keep an eye on my footing though. I could never get the hang of climbing._

After carefully maneuvering down one of the collapsed flights of stairs Adken jumped down three feet from a pile of rubble landing with a certain grace.

_I suppose that's one advantage to this change. I seem to have picked up some new physical abilities which are enhanced versions of my own. I assume that's part of the genetic changes._

Suddenly Adken noticed something that he had not quite taken note of before when he had been traversing the treacherous path up the building. On the far side of the second to top floor were some strange scriptures etched into the wall as well as some pieces of tattered paper scattered all over the floor. Intrigued by what these could be walked over carefully, making sure not to trip over his tail of course which was a new thing to him, to see what these strange items were; and, more importantly, if any of them gave him any answers to his current predicament. What appeared to be a small picture torn out of something lay on the floor just in front of him.

Picking up the image with great care he examined it closer. The small scrap depicted a creature, similar in appearance to what he had now become and even with the same fur pattern, who was stood against a blue background. The creature seemed to have an air of authority about him; the picture's deep amber eyes staring directly into his own. There were a few strange characters scribbled in the bottom of the portrait although Adken couldn't make head, or tail, of them.

Taking a quick glance around there were a few more small scraps scattered around, although they contained no pictures and mostly writing meaning that they were useless to Adken. Just as he was about to head downstairs the youth became aware of something in the corner of the room, some sort of inanimate object. _I wonder what that could be? Something tells me it's not a UFO, as a lot those sci-fi books like to make out. _Taking slow and careful steps towards the peculiar object Adken slowly progressed towards the corner of the room. As he rounded the small pile of rubble concealing the object he noticed that it appeared to be some sort of clothing of some sort coated in dust and sand but still seeming to not have any serious flaws in the fabric.

Retrieving the items in question Adken examined them closely in turn. "A black jump suit of some kind and…" He held the next piece in front of him taking great interest in what it could be that he had stumbled upon, "Trousers too, of the same material, and some boots. As well as a very fancy looking helmet," Adken muttered dusting off the garments and taking a moment to admire the almost spotless, aside from the obvious dust of course, set of clothing. The helmet was especially impressive; it even had an orange visor that slid down to protect his eyes from the sunlight with what appeared to be the wiring for some sort of display, a holographic one perhaps. It even had spaces to accommodate for his huge ears.

_This is amazing. _He flipped the visor back up again. _Wow…_

_I suppose there'd be no harm in trying these on. _

Adken decided to slip on what he first thought would be a tight top. Its fit was surprisingly comfortable even over his fur, "A bit loose, but no matter. Better that than too tight." He whispered, talking to himself. Slipping off his trousers now he quickly donned the fresh pair which, again, seemed to be a good fit. Adken only then noticed his tail sticking out of the back of the trousers. "Damn it." He cursed. Feeling around for somewhere else to put his tail he managed to find a small hole to fit it through. _Must have been the way they were designed I suppose. Fortunate for me though._

Ten minutes later his tail was still dangling outside of the trousers, a slightly annoyed Adken sat on the floor staring at the tail deep in thought. _Can't get this blasted thing through, I'll try one last time. _This time taking extra care not to stretch his tail too much slowly, but carefully, he slipped it through the gap, "Ah-ha!" He exclaimed. "Success."

After he had gotten himself fully comfortable in his new found clothing Adken decided to head back down to the bottom floor to head back out into the open area where he had first found himself the day previous. _Hmm, where to now… _He felt like he was back in the bookstore now, although this time he was the one _inside _ofthe book.

_I suppose it wouldn't hurt too much to have a bit more of a look around. _Adken thought to himself cheerfully as he headed off to venture around the ruined city.


	4. Galactic Chess and Endangered Species

Adken spent several more hours wandering around the plethora of buildings around the circumference of, what he had now worked out, was one of several open squares within the city. Keeping moving allowed him to keep warm whilst enabling him to practice controlling his new body parts.

One thing the youth did become fond of was his tail. The ability to control it to do whatever he wanted was amazing to him, and not nearly half as challenging as he thought it would have been. It was a completely new extremity to Adken and one that he was actually happy to now have. Not that he was entirely perturbed by the other new bodily features; it's just that the tail was his favourite.

Thinking back to all the old books that he'd read involving shape shifting or someone being changed into something completely different he distinctly recalled that many of them were horrified with what they had become, even if there were only minor changes. Adken understood that, because that is how he had reacted at first to becoming… _This._ However, something about his new guise felt _natural. _As if this is how he was meant to be. He was sure that was just him being silly; although somewhere at the back of his mind he knew he was right.

Having clambered through the last building surrounding the square Adken nimbly made his way down the structure and back to the sand ridden group once more, tail swishing happily as he moved along.

_I suppose I'm not losing anything. My parents won't be bothered about me… _Suddenly a concern rose in his mind, _What about the Orphanage staff? Laura? They'll wonder where I've gone; think I've taken off. Although, there was nothing that I could really run off with. Still, I'd hope they'd be concerned about me…_

The movement of his tail slowed as loneliness crept in. Shaking himself, as if trying to get rid of some insect, Adken put those thoughts to one side for the moment. _I suppose all that matters is the present, as they say. I should be more concerned about my own survival more than the staff being worried where I've run off to._

Suddenly an almighty roar interrupted his thoughts, _What the- _quickly managing to find cover behind a rock Adken crouched down and peered over the edge tentatively.

What he laid his eyes upon next was something he had never thought he would see in his lifetime.

_A spaceship._

For someone who had grown up in the environment that he had Adken had more experience than most; mainly from reading and watching some of the few films that the orphanage had in their library. However, to see a space craft in front of him rendered him speechless.

The sleek red craft engaged the thrusters on its underbelly and came gracefully into land on the compact dirt and concrete of the plaza. However, what jumped out of it surprised Adken even more than the event of it actually appearing.

Leaping nimbly out of the cockpit came a small robot and what appeared to be a cat like creature. Using his improved vision he noted the yellow fur with brown stripes along its ears. Ears which were shaped just like his.

_He-He's one of the same creatures I am! Hopefully he's not hostile, if I've learnt anything it's to treat weird cat creatures with caution. Well, I can't really say that to be honest. Considering I am one of them. _Adken covered his mouth quickly as he smirked at his own remark so as not to alert the two new arrivals to his presence.

_I may be best following them for a while. _He mused. _If I jumped out at them now like 'hey! Help me! I've been turned into a cat-creature and need answers!' I doubt they would be willing to help me out…_

Carefully moving around the rocks Adken positioned himself so he had a good view over the area where the ship had landed, his tail swishing impatiently against a block of sandstone rubble as he waited for an opportunity to approach these strange people.

...

"You have now arrived at your destination, planet Fastoon." Aphelion announced, waking Ratchet from his slumber.

"Ungh, wha- we're here already?"

"Indeed Ratchet," Clank chipped in to the conversation, "You were asleep for 15 hours."

"Why does my face hurt…" Lifting up his head Ratchet noted the fact that he had in fact fallen asleep on the chess board, crushing one of the scout bot pieces. "Oh."

Clank chuckled to himself. "I believe it would be best we disembarked now Ratchet."

"Yeah, that's a good idea bud." Ratchet shook his head vigorously to wake himself up before Aphelion opened up the cover to the cockpit and Ratchcet and Clank jumped out. Ratchet made sure to pick up his omniwrench and omni blasters on the way, slinging them across his back.

Ratchet took in the surroundings of the old ruins of the Court of Azimuth, admiring the long deserted structure with a strange melancholy to his gaze.

"It's been a while since we've been here, eh?"

"Yes, Ratchet."

"Ah well, better get looking for whatever may have come out of this rift then I suppose. Let's start searching then! This is where you detected the portal came from, right?"

"That is so Ratchet. There was a fluctuation in the space-time continuum around," Clank walked over to a spot around ten yards away, "Here. Give or take a few feet."

Near where Clank had calculated the portal had appeared Ratchet noticed something on the floor. Glancing down at the compacted earth he noticed that there was a disturbance in the lay of the ground with some strange markings around it.

"Clank, check this out. This can't be Nanophytes."

"No, it seems not Ratchet." Clank crouched down and ran a robotic hand over the earth. "These prints are fresh, and they appear to be Lombax prints."

Ratchet looked down at his robotic friend in disbelief. "Fresh Lombax prints? Clank, are you sure you're not looking at my own?" Ratchet lifted up his feet to show Clank what his feet looked like, even though he was wearing boots.

"That is not the case Ratchet. You walked directly over here from the ship and have not stood on this spot. Also, I dated these prints. They are around a day old."

_That's when the rift opened… But why would a lone Lombax have come through? Surely if they were coming back to this dimension they'd send more through? Perhaps it's a trap of some kind._

"I think you may find these interesting also Ratchet." Clank was now pointing at another set of prints right next to the Lombaxian ones.

"They seem to be of a humanoid life form, the prints for these boots suggest they were made for a foot of a peculiar shape."

"What are you suggesting?" Ratchet was intrigued by Clank's discovery. "Surely the prints are from different times though?"

"I have analysed them and both are the same age."

"So there are one, if not two, people now roaming around on Fastoon both of who we can assume are someone from an alternate dimension?"

"Affirmative, Ratchet." Clank answered.

Suddenly a small rock came skittering down from above Ratchet and Clank, startling them slightly, "What was that?" Ratchet asked rhetorically.

In answer to the Lombax's exclamation a figure stood up from behind a small cluster of rocks.

"Can you come down here? We want to speak to you." Ratchet spoke in a slow and patronising tone to make sure that he was understood by this stranger.

In response it began climbing down the rock face, rather nimbly in fact, taking a few seconds at several points to calculate a route down before jumping the last six feet and landing softly on the plaza's surface crouching its legs slightly. Now that the creature had come closer Ratchet could observe its features more clearly. _Long pointed ears, tufted end to the tail. _It was then that Ratchet realised that what was stood in front of him was a white and auburn striped Lombax.

The look of surprise was evident on the creature's face when it saw Adken up close. He assumed its surprise was due to some reason unbeknownst to him. _It looks really shocked though, I don't think I did anything to make it act like that… At least I don't think I did. _

"Ratchet, you have been gawking like that for almost a minute now." A little robot walked out from behind the stranger, now observing Adken for the first time. It ran its glowing green eyes up and down his fur covered body as if it were scanning him before turning to look up at its companion.

"Erm, Ratchet. You seem to have stopped functioning."

The 'Ratchet' creature raised a furred hand to its brow and rubbed it, as if it had some sort of headache.

Turning their backs to Adken and lowering their voices the duo began talking. However, the obvious excitement in the creature's voice made it just loud enough for Adken to overhear them – his enhanced hearing helping with that of course.

"Don't worry bud, I'm fine. It's just… A Lombax… I never thought I'd see one again after what happened with Azimuth."

_Lombax… That's what this race is called then. _Adken surmised.

"How do we know he's not wearing a holo-guise?" It continued.

"I have scanned his body and found no traces of any holo-guise equipment. Unless there is a new version of the holo-guise I am 98.23 percent certain that he is a Lombax."

"And that 1.77 percent?" The Lombax retorted.

"Is unaccounted for. However, the percentages are obviously high Ratchet."

It took a moment for the yellow and brown striped creature to respond to its robot companion, "I suppose so bud, I suppose I've just become too distrustful over time."

Facing Adken again the Lombax smiled in greeting. "Nice to meet'cha bud. Sorry for not introducing ourselves just before, we had to discuss something. I'm Ratchet by the way, and this is Clank!" The manner in which it spoke, from both the previous conversation it had with the robot, Clank, and when it had shouted at Adken before, he assumed that the other Lombax was a male.

Ratchet motioned towards his small metallic companion, "Greetings." It smiled and waved a robotic hand in greeting.

"Good to meet you too." Adken replied in a fairly formal tone. If there was anything he had learned from reading all those books it was to try to show as little weakness or uncertainty as possible when introducing oneself. Not overconfidence of course, but a certain manner which dispelled any ideas the other person may have of taking him up on those weaknesses.

"And you're name is?"

"Adken, I'm Adken." Again, continuing with a formal tone.

"Nice to meet you then." Ratchet smiled nervously, "So, uh, how come you're on Fastoon then? You're quite a way from the rest of the Lombaxes. Aren't there any more with you?" The Lombax looked at him inquisitively, his green eyes almost boring into Adken's own.

_I can't let them know that I'm human, or that I was human at least. That would create too many questions and make them suspicious. Hmm... What should I do? _Quickly sifting through his mind Adken tried to come up with an idea to prevent arousing suspicion from the duo, _I suppose what I'll have to do is come up with a back story. Wait, I've got it!_

"I... I can't quite remember everything but I do recall certain things of what happened."

"Yes?" Ratchet said, the excitement evident in his tone.

"I," Adken ran his palm along his brow nervously _I need to think of something now I've committed to created this façade. __P__erhaps there's something that I've read or seen __in the past __that could help me... _Again raking his mind for ideas Adken managed to piece together a story, "I was with some other Lombaxes a while ago when we were attacked; I managed to escape with some help from a local merchant who had stopped over on the planet at the time. He escorted me to the nearest outpost where I was left without any way to find the rest of the people who I was with. I decided I would have to resort to travelling around the universe just making it by and..." Adken pretended to be contemplating over the amount of time that he had been travelling for, giving himself time to come up with a reasonable figure also, "I did that for a few years. However, after a run in with a particularly dodgy merchant, I ended up getting dumped here."

The yellow and brown striped Lombax stared at Adken in awe, pulling the same face as before. The little robot tugged on its friend's leg again. "Ratchet, you're pulling that face again."

"Sorry pal, I'm just... Wow... You've had it hard then."

Adken breathed an internal sigh of relief, _Too close Adken, too close._

"Yeah. I know this is a lot to ask but, perhaps you would be able to help me out? Escort me to the nearest planet with an outpost or-"

"Don't worry bud, me and Clank will take care of you. Isn't that right Clank?" He turned around to face his robot companion who Adken now noticed had been looking at him closely. There was something about the robot's stare that made Adken suspicious. Suspicious that Clank was suspicious. A sudden worrying thought ran through his head, _what if Clank realises that it's a ruse? __Then I'm done for..._

To Adken's relief the robot did not press the issue, "Of course Ratchet. It is only reasonable" Clank replied.

"Great!" The Lombax seemed even more excited than before at the prospect of having another of its kind to converse with; little did it know...

"We don't want to raise too much attention though, having another Lombax in this dimension is sure to cause unrest... I think we'd best head to Veldin instead of Metropolis Clank, too many people around. All of those politicians and media as well."

"Do not forget Qwark Ratchet,"

Adken was unsure who this Qwark figure was, but he must have been quite someone to be able to make Ratchet's fur almost stand on end at the mention of him. _Must be some crafty politician I suppose. _Adken mused.

"Qwark." Ratchet mouthed. After shuddering at the mention of this stranger's name Ratchet continued the conversation. "Anyway, watcha say we head to Veldin then Clank?"

"I believe that would be an excellent idea Ratchet."

"Great! Don't want to keep you waiting any longer Adken, I'm sure you've been sat out here in this place long enough. Let's head over to my ship and we'll be off, she's just behind us there." He motioned to the red craft from earlier.

Ratchet leaned in and whispered to the white Lombax, "Be careful though, she can get a bit _touchy _at times." he laugh slightly at his own jest, Adken smiling nervously also. Once the conversation had finished the trio strode over to the space ship sat in the middle of the plaza. The next thing that Ratchet did however confused Adken quite a bit.

He spoke to the space craft. Not in a commanding tone, but a familiar one. As if he knew them as a friend.

"Hey Aphelion, we've got a guest coming with us. Have room for one more?"

"I believe so Ratchet. As long as he doesn't try to back seat drive." The ship replied.

_The space ship talks! _Adken struggled to hide his amazement, _I'm becoming even more baffled by the minute by this place. I suppose I'd better go along with it though, Clank seemed to be doubting my story earlier._

"I'll make sure he doesn't Aphelion," Ratchet replied, grinning, "Hop in Adken, me and Clank will follow."

Using his new found skill at climbing the white and auburn striped Lombax nimbly raised himself onto the edge of the cockpit and clambered in, swiftly followed by Ratchet and Clank.

"Aphelion, plot a course for Veldin." Ratchet began typing in commands to the dashboard, "We're going home."


	5. Suspicions

"This is home I suppose!" Ratchet made a broad gesture to the peculiar building that Adken now stood in. The structure appeared to be some sort of garage, although a lot more advanced than the one that resided where Adken used to live on the outskirts of Coleford; Ratchet's having room for his space ship as well as an array of peculiar weaponry along the side. A door lead from the back end of the large room into what Adken assumed was the living quarters.

Ratchet smiled at the look of amazement on the white Lombax's face, "So you like it then?"

"Yeah, it's... Amazing. Would you mind if I had a look around?"

"Not at all! Me and Clank will give you a little tour of the place. Sorry if you step on a wrench or something, I leave stuff lying around all the time. We can sort you out some new clothes after that too, those ones look a bit scruffy."

"That'd be good." Adken replied informally.

"Anyway, follow me and I'll take you around." Ratchet said.

The yellow and brown furred Lombax lead the way as he headed down to the door at the far end of the garage area and tapping in a key code on the small panel by the door, which swung open with a satisfying 'clunk'. "Follow me," Ratchet beckoned, Adken following closely behind with Clank bringing up the rear.

"And these are the living quarters. Not much, I know, but I'm sure you can settle in easily enough."

Crossing the threshold Adken took in the small, cramped room at the back of the building. There was a sole window looking out over the plateau letting in a dim red light which filtered through onto several surfaces within the room. Being careful not to scrape his head on the doorway as he passed through Adken moved forward and stood upright, briefly glancing around. In one corner there resided a small raised platform which resembled a bed. However, what was in the middle of the room was of much greater interest to Adken.

On a table with various drawings and mechanical normalities, such as bolts, screws and a variety of exotic looking tools, sat a rather odd pair of boots which were propped up on one side. On their underside were, what appeared to be, some sort of miniature thrusters. Intrigued by what this strange contraption could be Adken inquired, "Ratchet, what are those on the table if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh those," He waved a hand dismissively, "Just some old hover boots I was tinkering with a while ago. The ion coils and ion propulsion cells broke and I never got round to fixing them. There's some other underlying problems too which I can't really fix... But I've got a new pair now so I've not really got any use for them."

The mention of technology pushed Adken's brain into action, _Ion coils... I have no clue what they are... I assume if they're hover boots then they use some kind of jet propellant, similar stuff to something I read about in a journal a while back. If I saw the schematics I may be able to have a go at fixing them. Even if they are foreign to me at the moment I'm sure that they have some similarities to the advanced technology that's being developed on earth._

"Interesting. Would I... Could I have a look at them? And the schematics as well? I could try and fix them for you." As dubious as Adken was about attempting to tinker with these strange things he was genuinely enthralled by the strange device. As well as a means to distract himself from his current situation he knew that he would relish the challenge; as dangerous as it may be.

"Sure! I tell you what, if you fix them you can keep 'em. How does that sound?"

"Uhh." He was unsure what to respond, Adken had never been offered anything worth a huge sum of money before, let alone a set of hover boots. "Okay sure." _I suppose if I don't fix them I don't lose anything. No harm in trying, right?_

"Great! I'll just..." Ratchet began rummaging through the plethora of items on the table, occasionally throwing an item or two off or perhaps rolling up a piece of paper and handing it to Clank. "Ah-ha!" He exclaimed, "Here ya go pal, one set of hover boot schematics. I'll get all the tools you should need to fix them, we'll just need to head back through to the garage if you want to come through." Following swiftly on Ratchet's tail Adken was lead back into the garage area where he began searching through various drawers and racks throwing various tools into a small box whenever he found one. After a few minutes he had finished collecting all that was needed.

"This should be all you need to fix them, just be careful with those ion propulsion cells. They can be _sliiightly _volatile. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine!"

Even though Ratchet's last comment had made the white furred Lombax slightly concerned Adken was eager to continue, "Okay, thanks!"

"No problem! If you need me I'll just be wandering around checking over some things so just give me a holler if anything goes wrong!" Already walking off down to the other end of the building Ratchet left Adken to his work.

Unrolling and laying out the paper neatly on a workbench Adken weighed down either end with a small chunk of metal. Analysing the plans carefully before he began work he noticed some similarities to a new form of jet propulsion he had heard about a while ago, but this was on a _much _more compact scale; one which he could not have even began to imagine before he had actually seen the items in question. _Enough being impressed by this, I'd better get started. The sun will be setting soon and I don't want to be working too long through the night._

The thought came to his mind again, as it had been repeatedly and very often, about the consequences of him being here in this foreign universe.

_As much as I am confused and scared of being this far away from home; as well as having the guilt of leaving Laura and the others without any clue as to where I have gone, I still think I should try and somehow distract myself from those thoughts. It's not good to dwell too much on them considering I will be stuck here, possibly forever._

The thought of never seeing the people he knew and had grown up with ever again scared him, but most of all brought a longing to see them. However, Adken suppressed his qualms and continued with his work.

...

It was sunrise before he finished.

Paws and arms covered in oil and various other substances Adken stumbled into the living quarters, hover boots in hand, and lay down on the floor too exhausted to move.

"_Fixed." _He croaked, holding the boots in the air.

Ratchet, who seemed to have been sat waiting for Adken to appear for some time, now stood upright and walked over to where the white furred Lombax lay. At least Adken was white furred _before _he had fixed the hover boots and got himself covered in the muck and grime of the garage.

Leaning over Adken Ratchet grinned and slapped the Lombax on the shoulder, "Great work bud! I would ask if you wanted to test them out but you look like you could sleep through anything. You take my bed, I was getting up anyway."

"T-thanks." Slowly, Adken managed to push himself upright and move steadily over to the bed before collapsing again. Thirty seconds later he was fast asleep.

"Wow. I'm impressed with that guy Clank." Ratchet whispered so as not to disturb Adken, "I could never fix those hover boots for the life of me. I've not met many Lombaxes in my time but he is probably one of the most skilled engineers I've heard of. And he's so young!"

Clank chuckled slightly, "You seem to be jealous Ratchet."

"Nah bud, I'm just amazed... And excited. I never thought I'd see another Lombax again Clank, not after Azimuth, not after the dimensionater was gone for good," Clank smiled nervously at that remark, "I'm just happy to have another of my race to talk with..." Ratchet continued.

Clank replied in a serious tone, "Ratchet, I wish to talk with you with regards to something."

The yellow and brown furred Lombax looked down at his robotic companion suspiciously, "About what pal?"

"Follow me." Clank lead the way out of the room, his small robotic feet making a faint metallic noise as he walked along. With no other choice, Ratchet decided to follow.

The duo, lead by Clank, headed through the garage and out onto the Kyzil Plateau where they could talk without being overheard.

"Ratchet, there is something we must discuss." Clank began the conversation in a formal tone.

"And that is?"

"I believe that Adken is not what he seems." Clank continued.

"Not what he seems? What, he's not a Lombax?" Ratchet laughed nervously, "You said yourself Clank, 'there's a 97.52912 percent chance that he's not wearing a holo-guise.'"

"It was 98.23 percent Ratchet. But that is not what I mean."

"You saw how he fixed those hover boots!" The Lombax continued, oblivious to Clank's comment, "Only a Lombax would be able to do that. We invented them after all!"

"As I just stated Ratchet. That is not what I meant." 

"What do you mean then?"

"I mean that Adken lied to us about what happened to him. His story is not coherent." Clank answered in what seemed to Ratchet to be a concerned tone. "I thought that you may be able to watch Adken. To see if he acts strangely or other such things because, as I said, I believe he has been lying to us."

Ratchet sighed and rubbed his head, looking at the ground trying to avoid Clank's gaze, "I suppose I can. Just for you, I'll keep on eye on him. Is that okay?"

The small robot smiled in response, "That would be excellent Ratchet. Thank you."

"No worries Clank, now let's head back. I've got some hover boots to try out."

…

Galactic president Capernicus L. Qwark strode into the entryway of the conference room with his head held high, looking down on the array of people that lay before him. There were various politicians and high ranking military officers milling about in the forum chatting about this and that. Qwark decided that he should converse with some of these people, to keep up his good appearance to the media and public of course.

Taking a few large strides forward, straightening his tie as he went, Qwark approached the nearest person who was not talking to someone. Taking a quick glance at them to see who it was that he would be speaking to he racked his brain for the name of the person; this, the president found rather challenging. The person was around five and a half foot tall which was rather short to Qwark, or at least compared to himself. The politician was a Markazian with short brown hair and sharp facial features. A short tail protruded from the back of his robes which were dark blue in colour. Why he wore robes Qwark wasn't sure but never the less he continued searching his mind for ideas. After managing to come up with a list of around five names Qwark greeted them with his booming voice and putting on his best smile.

"Greetings Councilor Mio, a pleasure to see you here!"

The small Markazian turned around calmly, taking a sip from his small glass of a clear liquid and smiling thinly at Qwark, "It's actually Vi-"

"Ah I'm sorry I got your name wrong Councilor Tio, my deepest apologies."

The Councilor sighed, "My name is Vio."

"Ah yes of course! How could I forget? Silly me." Qwark laughed, slapping his stomach over dramatically.

"Indeed." Vio continued, now taking a swig of his drink and finishing it.

"So, how are you this fine day?"

"Not so good I am afraid Qwark, I have had several sleepless nights due to the current crisis that has been occurring; whole colonies disappearing without any warning and all, it would make any high ranking politician on edge."

"Yes... Disappearances... Of course." Qwark was unsure what this small man was going on about but he went along with it. _Just remember Qwark, people are watching you now. You're the Galactic President! The people love me of course but no harm in improving those appearances of course._

"Indeed, quite the tragedy of course... Anyway, I digress! I believe that Councillor Magnus is calling me over. It was pleasant speaking with you."

"You too Tio!" Qwark called after the Markazian who was now walking away briskly in the opposite direction of him. A few moments later a tannoy blared through the forum.

"_The conference will begin in two minutes. If all according people would please make their way to their allocated seats in the room upstairs. Thank you for your co-operation."_

_Seems that it's starting soon, I wonder what all of this fuss is about anyway. I'm sure Ratchet and Clank will be able to solve it._

Suddenly Qwark remembered, _Of course... They're 'retired'. A true super hero never retires of course! I am still working tirelessly for the benefit of the universe __after all__. Ah, looks like everyone is heading in now. I'll follow them to see where I need to go._

Joining the back of a large line of people Qwark waited as they moved forward slowly towards the conference room. There were politicians and various other people from what seemed to be all of the races of the universe, Lombaxes aside of course. Qwark even thought he spotted Talwyn Apogee somewhere in the throng.

After a few minutes the queue had reached the large doors which marked the entrance to the conference room. Casting his gaze over the table Qwark noted that there were small holographic projections of the people that the seats were reserved for; looking down to the far end he noticed one of a rather suave and handsome individual standing in a heroic pose. _Ah! That must be my place._

Striding confidently past the various people who had begun to take their seats Qwark made his way to the end of the conference room where he sat down in between one of the many councilors of one of the various galaxies and Talwyn Apogee.

The speaker at the head of the table was organizing their notes so Qwark took the opportunity to ask Talwyn what exactly was going on.

"Psst," Qwark whispered, holding his three fingered hand across his mouth in a poor attempt to keep anyone from seeing what he was saying, "Psst," He whispered again.

"What is it Qwark? We're in a meeting." The Markazian whispered back, the annoyance evident in her tone. Of course, Qwark ignored that continuing onto the topic that he was contemplating currently.

"What's all this about? That Mio guy was going on about people being kidnapped without any trace or something..."

Talwyn stared back at Qwark in disbelief, "You haven't heard about this? It's been on news stations all across the universe! This is unprecedented Qwark, we have never witnessed disappearances on this scale before! Not in this organized fashion and with specific groups of people. How could we? I thought you'd know about this; you're Galactic President of Polaris Qwark, it's your _job _to know about these things _and _resolve them. Remember what happened with Artemis Zogg?"

"Yes, yes of course." He wafted his hand dismissively, "I'm sure we can resolve this issue in a calm and orderly manner."

"As much as I hope for that too I _seriously _doubt that's going to happen. It's not like we have Ratchet and Clank to help out this time too. Last I heard they were near Fastoon, after that we lost track of them. I managed to get a few galactic rangers on the case but even they couldn't find anything."

"I see... I'm afraid I can neither be of assistance to you. I too am curious as to the whereabouts of those two; as much as I want to be a hero, I must lead the Polaris galaxy." He clenched his hand into a fist and help it to his chest in an over exaggerated pose "As is my duty and honour."

A loud cough came from the left of Qwark, causing him to jump in his seat.

"Galactic President Qwark, we are trying to begin the announcement." One of the chairmen interjected, glaring at Qwark who muttered to himself then apologized and, making himself comfortable, let the conference begin.

…

"How come there is so little progress? We have only managed to extract the suitable DNA from two of the species! What do you think the overseer is going to do to us when he finds out that we're not doing things according to schedule, hmm?" The small Terachnoid who stood in front of him trembled slightly shaking its head.

"I-I-I don't know... Chief Scientist."

"He's going to show us the air lock, that's what! So we'd better piece something together unless you want to end up like all the other lab assistants!" Bowing its head and scuttling away the Terachnoid briskly returned to its work.

Rubbing his temple firmly with his fingers Grieg returned to the console and began checking through the samples they had extracted.

For a Cazar Grieg was unnaturally tall, at least in comparison to other males, and rather slim also with pale brown fur coating his entire body. One could think that he was a different species of Lombax, with the similar anatomy and facial features that weren't all that different from those of their cat-like associates. However, there were some distinct differences. The ears of the Cazar were about half the length of a Lombax's and more akin to those of a fox, as was his face.

Now striding over to another console Grieg began scanning the screen furiously, his eyes darting from side to side as he tried to spot what he was looking for.

"Ah-ha!" He exclaimed.

"What have you found sir?" The small Terachnoid who was minding the console enquired.

"The results I was looking for. These are interesting... Hmm." Spinning around on one foot the Cazar strode back to the previous computer, "You there! Have you applied the substances to the various samples?"

"I have, I believe that if we can isolate some of the mRNA bases then we can determine which amino acids are being synthesised. _Then _we can begin to synthesise the necessary ones that are required."

"Good work. If we're to keep to schedule we need three more species done within the hour. Then we can finally rest." Cazar replied, happy that someone was shifting their weight.

"I shall begin work immediately."

Leaving the Terachnoid to its work Grieg strode off to find his private quarters aboard the ship. Being a few minutes walk away he had time to think over some of the work that needed doing, _I do wish that the overseer would give us less of a hard time. I'd like to see his Agorian brain try and decipher advanced genetics. _

Just as the thought came into his head a large hulking figure walked straight into him knocking him to the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're-" The Cazar was cut off as he stared up into the deadly gaze of the Overseer. A large Agorian he stood at least one and a half times the height of Grieg with beady yellow eyes; instead of skin his body was coated in a deep red leathery hide.

"Overseer, it is good to see you. What brings you to the laboratories?"

"I am here with orders, why else?" The Agorian replied with a threatening tone, although anything else was hard for the Overseer to muster. "I have been told that we need more species and that Lombaxes are the next ones required."

"Lombaxes? Why are they of special interest to our client?" Grieg enquired, curious as to why his contractor, or at least the contractor of who he had been hired by, would want to analyse an endangered species of which there was only one left in the universe.

"He didn't say. Don't make your incompetence your downfall puny little scientist. I'm watching you."

"I hope you aren't going to harm the Lombax if you capture him. Besides, won't the previous technique be ineffective?"

The Agorian grinned widely, "That is why I have sent my own elite band of mercenaries to capture it."

"Wait, you know where the Lombax is?" Grieg replied, baffled. No one had been able to track it for almost a month now, not since it had headed out to travel around the universe.

"Of course, my contractor also told me that."

"Fair enough... But like I said, I'll need them in one piece, not _pieces._ Okay?"

The Agorian nodded in response, "Of course." Before making an abrupt departure and heading back towards the bridge of the space craft; the Cazar also continuing his own journey respectively.

_He was never one for ending conversations on an incredibly light note. _Grieg mused.

Grieg sighed again rubbing his temple, as was a habit of his, _I work too hard for this. So do the Terachnoids that I've been __thrown with__. I suppose it does allow me to spread out my resources and besides, they don't seem to mind too much having me as their project leader. Although I've rarely heard a Terachnoid complain about such a thing, always too busy with their technology and computers. _

Realising that he had almost missed a turn the Cazar quickly retraced his steps and continued down the short hallway into the living area.

The corridors here were less barren than the ones down in the research labs. Small blue spheres indented into the wall provided a pleasant ambient light and there were several windows overlooking the barren space outside. The ceilings were higher also, allowing more room for Grieg to stand as, due to his large stature, moving around in the laboratories down near the generators was difficult work at times; in particular after long days. More often than not he would manage to hit his head on a metal door frame or two.

After rounding the last corner Grieg had reached his living area. Quickly typing in the pass code to the room he crossed the threshold and sealed the door behind him, making sure that no one could interrupt him.

"No rest for the wicked I suppose." The pale brown furred Cazar muttered to himself, turning on the holo-vision to see if there had been any progression in the universal emergency conference that was currently taking place.

The holographic screen flickered into life and began displaying an image of a large room with a long table dominating the centre. Many key political figures were sat around the circumference and all seemed to be concentrating on the person who was currently stood at the head of the room addressing them.

"_People of the known universe, I have brought you here today to discuss the recent disappearances of several colonies from different locations across the universe. What I want to resolve is who is performing these actions, if anyone at all. Where these people are being taken against their will and, most importantly, how. I have guest speakers Councillors Varken and Laurentius. Councillors. _Chairman Jarne, or at least Grieg assumed that it was him who delivered the opening speech, now stood to one side to allow the other Councillors to come forward. However, at this point Grieg's thoughts had shifted to what the Chairman had mentioned.

_He knows about the disappearances, that's obvious. But now they're assuming that people did it. Before long they're going to work out who has been taking all of those people... This must be why I've been worked off my feet constantly for the past week. I wonder what the Overseer will have to say about this? _The Cazar shuddered at the thought, _Best not to contemplate that. I should still go and enquire about it though... Else all my research will be for nothing._

Resolving to head back to the laboratories later on Grieg lay down on the lone bed in the room and attempted to find sleep, although it struggled to find him. Instead he lay awake, contemplating what would happen if, no, _when _they were discovered...

...

Over a week had passed since Ratchet had met Adken on Fastoon, confirming that there was still one Lombax left for the universe to throw into his path. The two had got on rather well, both chatting frequently in between performing various tasks. Both Ratchet and Clank had decided that their home on Veldin needed a slight overhaul considering that they had abandoned it for several years; so, once Adken had woken on the second day after his arrival, the three of them had begun work.

When there was nothing for him to do Adken had often started repairing several of Ratchet's old gadgets that were lying around; which the yellow and brown furred Lombax was more than happy about. The other Lombax was clearly a skilled engineer and seemed to relish the challenge of fixing the plethora of items that were stored in the garage and discussing the technicalities of his small projects with him.

At the moment however Adken was resting on the only bed in the far corner of the living quarters whilst Ratchet had the holo-vision device on in the background as he worked on organising all of his various omniwrenches into their new slots on the wall.

The news had just begun and began blaring out something about a large conference going on in Metropolis; not that it was of interest to Ratchet, he was more preoccupied with organising his wrench collection at the moment. However, what they began saying next caught the Lombax's attention.

"_We have recently received reports from this conference, which Galactic President Qwark of the Polaris galaxy himself attended, _Ratchet shuddered slightly at the mention of Qwark's name, _about a new threat. There have been reports mass disappearances of several colonies from various planets throughout the universe. The reason behind them is unknown but our best political minds are trying to solve the issue. Next in the news, we have President Qwark himself talking to us about the sequel to his previous film 'My Blaster Runs Hot'."_

At that point Ratchet switched off the holo-vision set to allow himself to concentrate; _It's been less than a month and already there's something crazy going on. As much as I want to help I think mine and Clank's time has passed... Perhaps I should talk to him about it? _The Lombax mused. _I'll mention it to him tomorrow, he's probably more preoccupied with his strange ideas about Adken at the moment... Maybe he's right... I don't have any reason to believe Adken's story; yet he seems genuine to me at least. Perhaps Clank is seeing something that I'm not._

Making a mental note to discuss the news with Clank later on Ratchet returned to his work, carefully placing his old Omniwrench 10000 into its magnetic rack on the wall and heading off to find his small robotic companion.


	6. The Art of Breaking Death Robots

"Shift your weight Adken! You won't be able to steer if you don't shift your weight!" Ratchet bellowed across the Kyzil plateau to the other Lombax, who was currently heading straight for a large rock.

"Okay!" Came the call back. Nearing the rock at quite a speed the figure leaned to the left and swerved round and back towards where Ratchet and Clank stood.

"Nice work pal! Again!" Ratchet instructed, grinning widely. It reminded him of the first time that Azimuth had shown him the hover boots and their amazing utility. "And remember, to slow down lean backwards!"

"Alright!" Adken replied, attempting the manoeuvre that the yellow and brown furred Lombax had just suggested. Shifting his centre of gravity towards the back end of his body Adken began to reduce his speed gradually; until, of course, he fell over backwards. Flying through the dirt he came conveniently to a stop about two metres from where Ratchet and Clank stood.

Rubbing his head and propping himself into an upright position, Adken grinned sheepishly at Ratchet, "Seems I haven't _quite _got the hang of it yet. I suppose I can try again tomorrow, it's getting rather late now."

Ratchet shrugged in response, "If you say so. Let's head back in then." Striding ahead the Lombax took the lead leaving Adken back with Clank.

"Adken, may I have a word with you a moment?" Clank enquired whilst Adken finished removing the hover boots.

"Sure Clank, what is it?" The white furred Lombax asked.

"I shall just let Ratchet head back into the building before I ask you. You may go ahead Ratchet!" The robot called after his companion, "We shall not be long!"

"Sure thing Clank!"

"Anyway, as I was saying," Clank continued, "I am concerned for Ratchet."

Adken was baffled by Clank's statement; so much so that he just sat for a score of seconds with a raised eyebrow looking at Ratchet's companion, "Why are you concerned for him Clank?"

"I am sorry if I sound to be affronting you; however, may I ask a personal question?"

"Uhm, sure. Go ahead." Adken replied, evident uncertainty lacing his tone of voice.

"Why did you lie to us?"

Those words rang through the air, passing through Adken's head again and again as he tried to comprehend what he had just been asked.

_He's seen through it. My illusion has been shattered._

"May I ask you something now." the question was rhetorical, "What do you believe I am lying about?"

"I believe that it is your story. I do not find it entirely coherent." The Lombax was about to protest when Clank raised a metallic finger to stop him, "Before you ask Adken, this is out of concern for Ratchet and not to be to your detriment."

"I see... Well- I-" He chuckled nervously, "I'm trying to think of how to phrase this but... But I can't seem to. Sorry Clank I'm just slightly nervous, and shocked of course."

Clank smiled reassuringly, "Do not worry Adken, you may take your time."

_What am I meant to say? _Adken asked himself, _That I came through a rip in the fabric of space and time into this strange world where I turned into a Lombax and met the two saviours of the universe just by chance? He'll never believe that... I suppose honesty is the only way to go though else I will create lies interlaced with other lies._

"Would you believe me," The Lombax began, "If I told you that I had come through a rift in the very fabric of space and time and dumped into this world on a planet that I didn't know _and," _He took a deep breath, "That I was not like this until I came here?"

"Yes, I would." Clank replied cheerily.

Adken stared back at the robot dumstruck, his mouth slightly agape.

"Wha-"

Clank chuckled in his unique way, "Adken, you have to remember that Ratchet and I have had our fair share of inter dimensional experiences. We have had stranger things occur than this. If you don't mind me asking one more question, as all my others have been answered sufficiently; what were you before you entered this dimension? I noticed two sets of prints on Fastoon yet there was only one life form nearby."

It took Adken a moment to gather his wits again after the initial surprise of Clank's reply, "Well... I suppose, if I told you the word _human _would you know what that meant."

"I am afraid I do not. Would you be able to elaborate, perhaps describe your previous appearance?"

"Well I was," He had to rack his mind for a response, describing a human was something he had never done before. The exercise reminded him of, at school, when the teachers used to say _'Describe it as if you're answering the question to an alien. As far as you're aware the examiners are aliens.' _

_I suppose Clank's hardly an examiner but the same principals apply. _Adken mused.

"Humans are varying heights from four feet to eight feet but the extremes are very rare. Some of us have pinkish-white skin and others have darker due to living in different parts of our planet, similar to Lombax fur coats I suppose. We have fairly small eyes and hair as well as a more prominent nose. We have no fur to speak of except body hair. We are bipedal and stand upright. That's as much as I can think of really at the moment."

"So you are, or were, as Captain Qwark puts it an _earth__ian_?"

"Earthian?" Adken was fond of that title, "I suppose you could say that."

Again Clank chuckled, "It is good that I have cleared up this issue. But the question still remains to be answered whether you are fully Lombax. It is unfortunate that we do not have a true way of determining that without a genetic test. One of the few people able to perform such a test disappeared several months past. Also I believe that one of us should tell Ratchet about this. You can decide who it is that tells him. I do not wish for him not to be informed on this issue."

Adken winced slightly, "I suppose I'll have to tell him... Are you sure that's a good idea though? He seemed so happy to see another Lombax."

"It is for the best Adken, I am 78.92 percent certain that he will understand your situation and continue to aid you."

"That is a reasonable gamble, although I am nervous about taking it. I'll do it I suppose, I have little choice otherwise; for you if not anyone else Clank."

Again the robot smiled, "Thank you for your co-operation Adken. Let us head back, Ratchet shall be waiting."

Strolling towards the garage across Kyzil plateau the pair remained in silence until they had found safety in the well lit entryway to the building.

Ratchet welcomed them cheerily, "Hey there you two. You took a while! What were y-"

Suddenly the Lombax grabbed both Clank and Adken and dragged them to the ground behind one of the corners of the building and holding his finger to his mouth to indicate that they should be silent, "There's people outside, and they don't look friendly," he whispered as quietly as possible.

"Aphelion, scan for their identities."

"Scanning." Aphelion replied softly, "Scan complete, there are several Agorians and non-organic life forms, most likely combat robots."

"Thanks Aphelion. Adken, you go back to the far end of the garage me and Clank'll take care of these guys." Ratchet replied, lifting out a dual set of what appeared to be some sort of laser pistols.

"Okay. I'll try and get there." The white furred Lombax managed to reply, scared as to what it was that was outside; he understood that he would be useless if these people had ill intentions and there was a fight. He had known that he was going to encounter some hostile environments in this dimension but his heart was still racing at the thought of combat.

Just as he had moved across to the weapon storage however he heard a shout come from across the room; it was Ratchet's voice, "They've come from behind us! Clank, get on my back; we've got a fight on our hands."

There was a loud thud followed by another shout, "Another one! Quick!"

Adken could now hear his heart thumping in his chest rapidly, the adrenaline coursing through his body, _They need help, _he realised. _If even Ratchet is concerned about them then I should try and assist them. _Suddenly the Lombax realised something that he had not accounted for in the moment before, _But that means I'd have to kill someone... _

Ever since he was a small child and all through his teenage years Adken had been far from an advocate of violence. Anything that involved gore or extreme violence or anything akin to that he would tend to avoid, favouring something more light hearted instead. However, killing someone was a large step up from simply finding acts of violence disturbing to watch.

Shoving that thought to one side for the moment Adken concentrated on the present. He rushed over to the large rack of guns that were on one of the large walls of the garage. Deciding to pick the largest one the white furred Lombax grabbed it off the magnetic hooks on the wall and hefted it into position, almost dropping it in the process due to its weight. Only the adrenaline kept him going long enough to move towards where Ratchet and Clank were and draw up the weapon to line up the sights.

"Adken!" Ratchet exclaimed with evident joy at the sight of a friendly face; he was currently surrounded by brutal looking creatures with deep red skin and piggish yellow eyes as well as being much taller than him, reducing his focus even more.

"Adken!" Ratchet called again, this time louder, "Kill them!" He whacked another one in the face with his wrench sending it sprawling over the workbench scattering tools everywhere; only for the creature to immediately get back up again with blood dripping from a wound on its temple.

"I-I" Until he had tried to speak Adken did not realise that he was literally shaking in fear, his hands were trembling as his finger was sat right over the trigger but not able to will itself to pull down. "I..." He stuttered again, unable to muster any words.

One of the creatures had noticed him now, Ratchet's shouting making it aware of his location; it began walking slowly towards him, club raised above its head in preparation for the final blow.

"Fire it now Adken! You can do it!" Again the other Lombax swatted away a blow from another of the beasts before pulling out his pistol and shooting the creature in the head several times before it finally collapsed, moving no more.

The footsteps were coming closer towards him, closer, closer...

_Click._

Adken felt his finger pull down instinctively on the trigger, his body urged on by his mind's will for him to survive. There was a flash of light before he felt himself swept off of his feet and hit the wall with a loud thudding sound.

The only thing he felt after that was the cold...

…

Grieg was busy analysing yet another sample that had been extracted when one of his team came rushing over, the stress evident on its Terachnoid face.

"Sir! We've had a report back on the Lombax sample."

"What is it? Have we attained it?"

"I am afraid not sir; however, the Overseer wishes to see you."

"Tell him I shall be up immediately,"

_Great. Another proposed visit to the air lock I suppose._

Leaving the Terachnoids to finish off the work Grieg began heading up to the bridge of the ship pondering why the brutish Agorian wished to see him. The Cazar assumed that it was because his work wasn't on schedule or some of the usual drivel that was normally thrown at him; although something about this seemed different.

_Usually the progress updates are once a week; it hasn't even been two days since the last one, so why does he want to see me now?_

Reaching the bridge Grieg entered the pass code and headed into the large room from which the vessel was commanded. At the helm stood the red skinned Agorian, not that there were many other colours of skin that Agorians could have, who was busy staring out into space.

"Greetings Grieg. I see you received the message." 

"Of course I did, what is this all about?"

The Agorian now turned around to face Grieg. From his face it was evident that he was incredibly angry about something, Grieg swore he could almost hear the Overseer's teeth grinding together in rage.

"Almost all of my finest mercenaries and death robots were killed today. We were unable to retrieve the Lombax."

"And you called me here to tell me that? What does that have to do with me?" Grieg let his anger show now; he was tired and sick of being commanded day after day after day to work harder than any being possibly could only to be seemingly blamed for something he didn't do.

The Agorian continued, unphased. "However, of the ones that did return one of them overheard a very interesting conversation about another Lombax. However, he said that he wasn't always a Lombax or something stupid. I told him to talk sense else I'd shoot him on the spot!"

_Not always a Lombax... _Grieg mused, _What could he possibly mean. Unless he somehow transformed; akin to how bacteria transform under heat shock... Perhaps there was some external stimulus perhaps? Or maybe even an internal one?_

"Did your 'mercenary' manage to find out what this person was before if he transformed?" The Overseer had piqued Grieg's interest at the mention of something to do with genetics.

"Yes, he mentioned something about _earthians. _Whatever that name is! He probably made it up!"

_Earthian... Interesting. If I could extract the DNA and the protein coding used... It would open up new possibilities for genetics!_

The Overseer's bad mood seemed to have dispelled slightly now that he had been given a chance to shout at someone. He began grinning at Grieg, "I know what you are thinking you stupid little scientist. You want to get him to experiment on. Be my guest, although you'll have to do it yourself."

"Of course. Thank you for informing me about this."

"Yes. You should return to work now."

"Yes sir." Grieg replied politely, his body turning around and heading back towards the laboratories. His mind, on the other hand, was thinking about something else.

_It looks like my day just got a lot more interesting. _Grieg began laughing, exalted that he now had something to look forward to for once, _I had best begin preparing supplies for my journey. It's going to be quite the challenge to capture a Lombax._

…

_Why me._

The thought resonated through Adken's mind.

_Why me._

And again.

_Why..._

Then the blackness took over once more...

…

Adken could now hear someone's voice faintly.

"_We need some more nanotech Clank."_

_Who... Why? Why me? I was perfectly happy back at home. Though where is home? Home..._

The voices faded away again.

_Laura... Laura will be worried; they'll all be looking for me. Why was I taken here? I need... Need answers... Just, want home... Want to go home..._

…

"Adken? Adken you there?" Again the voice called but clearer this time.

"Wake up pal. Adken?"

"My ribs." He murmured.

"Adken!"

"Wha- where?" He opened his eyes, blinking at the bright light that was shining from across the room.

"You have been unconscious for several hours Adken. I am glad to see that you are awake again." A strange, robotic voice replied.

"Who..."

"Wow you must have hit your head hard on that wall! Are you okay to get up?"

"Yes... I- I should sit up."

With great difficulty Adken managed to prop himself up on what felt like some sort of bed, resting his head on a solid head board. Glancing around the room the white furred Lombax took in his surroundings to try and recall where he was.

_Ratchet. Clank. Veldin._

"I'm on Veldin." He mumbled to himself. "Ratchet. Ratchet, what happened?"

"What happened?" Ratchet laughed, "You took out half a squad of highly trained Agorian mercenaries that's what! Admittedly you had a RYNO VII to help out but still, you saved my hide!"

Adken smiled weakly, "No problem. But... How did I end up on this bed? I'm assuming I got knocked out."

"That is correct," Clank now joined the conversation fully, "The recoil from the RYNO VII caused you to hit the wall and render yourself non-functional."

"Yeah..."

_I was within a hairs breadth of being killed. That mace almost hit me..._

"What about the one that almost hit me?"

Ratchet said, "I think he ended up a few hundred meters over the plateau, buried in the ground or something. I didn't check after he went flying through the roof, I was more concerned about getting you check out and giving you some nanotech. You were in really bad shape. I managed to fix your broken ribs and leg; thing is we're all out of nanotech now so I'll need to get some more."

"Does that mean that we shall need to visit Metropolis Ratchet?" Clank asked his companion.

"Yeah, I suppose so. Hmm."

"What is it Ratchet?" Clank enquired.

Turning back to Adken now Ratchet asked, "You don't have any weapons with you do you Adken?"

"N-no why do you ask?" The white furred Lombax replied, slightly affronted by the question. He was then hit by a moment of realisation, "Are you suggesting that I get some weapons to defend myself?"

Ratchet nodded in response, grinning widely at the though of browsing for new gadgets he could pick up whilst shopping for Adken.

Adken laughed nervously in response to Ratchet, "If I'm to survive I'll probably need some."

"That's sorted then!" Ratchet exclaimed, "You'll need a day or two to recover fully even with the nanotech so we can head off to Metropolis then! That okay with you Clank?"

"Of course Ratchet." The small robot replied, smiling.

"You've used an omniwrench before too, right?" Ratchet enquired.

"Erm." The youth rubbed the back of his head smiling nervously, "I don't think so."

The yellow furred Lombax raised one eyebrow in slight amazement, "Wow. Now _that _I wasn't expecting." he shrugged nonchalantly, "I suppose I can teach you a few things. An omniwrench is a must if you want to survive in any close quarters combat."

"Sounds good." Adken replied, happy that he would have something to take the loneliness of of his mind. His earlier thoughts had brought back the longing for home, _But how will I get there? _

Burying the concern he instead concentrated on the present, "So when are we headed out then? In a day or two?"

"Something like that! I suppose you'll just have to entertain yourself till then, although I doubt you'll be able to do too much after suffering from that bad concussion."

"I concur Ratchet. It would be best if you slept to recover Adken, for now at least."

Leaving Adken to recover Ratchet and Clank went off to perform their various tasks, most of which involved repairing the garage after the attack.

…

Three days after Adken had awoken was he finally in a suitable condition to be able to travel. Having slept for most of the two previous days he could not recall much aside from the occasional banging sound of the repairs that were still ongoing; however, he had managed to rest for a good amount of time to allow his exhausted body to recuperate.

And so, the trio plotted the co-ordinates into Aphelion and set off on their way to Metropolis.

…

Clank had already planned out where they would need to visit to purchase an omniwrench for Adken and for Ratchet to have a chance to upgrade his weaponry, as well as some of his old guns for Adken to use for the meanwhile. The first port of call was a small store which was set back from the main bustle of Metropolis off of a side street near the Galactic Ranger's Headquarters.

There were several risks that had to be taken into account, aside from seeing Qwark of course. They were sure to be recognised in Metropolis as, not so contrary to popular belief, Ratchet and Clank were seen as the saviours of the universe and everywhere else that may exist. The major factor was that Adken was a Lombax; a species that most people assumed were almost extinct, Ratchet being the lone survivor in this dimension. If people saw another Lombax in Metropolis of all places then suspicions would be aroused and questions asked. That was why they had been forced to improvise. Being fresh out of holo-guises Adken had been forced to wear a simple thick hood in the hope that someone mistook him for a Cazar or something similar.

"Are you sure this will work?" Adken asked Ratchet as Aphelion was about to land in a quiet residential area of the city.

"Should do. Unless we encounter anyone _incredibly _observant we'll be fine."

Aphelion landed and opened the cockpit cover allowing the trio to jump down to the paved concrete of the Metropolis streets.

"Right, we'd best get moving. Don't want to be staying here for too long." Ratchet said, striding off down the street in the direction of what Adken assumed was this shop that had been mentioned.

As they walked Adken took the opportunity to take in the scenery of the astounding city. Tall tower blocks rose high above them, the occasional person looking out of the window down onto the cityscape below them. The walkways seemed to have a thick layer of clear blue glass also, allowing one to see directly down to the ground a long distance below them. Adken took a deep breath, _I was never good with heights. _He mused. Concentrating on the path ahead he noticed that Ratchet and Clank had managed to get ahead by a fair amount; jogging to catch up the white furred Lombax caught up whilst the duo were in the middle of a conversation.

"We should avoid Al, going there is sure to raise suspicion especially if we have Adken with us." Clank said.

"I suppose so," Ratchet replied, a slight hint of disappointment in his tone, "What about that other guy? What's his name... Will?"

"Hmm. I shall search my data banks for information." Clank went silent for a few seconds before continuing, "Ah yes. I remember him. Trustworthy and reliable I believe. However, we should not inform anyone about Adken's identity unless there is no other option."

"Yeah, yeah pal we know. We should almost be here now though. Only a few more minutes."

Rounding a corner Adken gazed upon what appeared to be a standard sort of city square for Metropolis. Tall buildings surrounding a small area with a few benches and lighting, not dissimilar to a small technological park of sorts. However, there seemed to no sign of a shop.

"Is the shop here?" the white furred Lombax asked tentatively.

"Just over there," Ratchet motioned to a doorway with a small sign above the door, _The Weapons Emporium, for all of your omniwrench needs._

_Cheery place. _Adken thought, now feeling slightly dubious about this whole trip.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll like the guy who runs it. Cheery little Markazian he is." Leading the way across the square Ratchet and Clank entered the shop first, the automatic doors sliding open silently.

"Follow me." Ratchet beckoned, Clank leading the way and Adken following.

The corridor that they entered was dimly lit, meaning that Adken had slight difficulty seeing. The one advantage was that it was narrow meaning that he was able to use the walls as guidance for where to go. After walking for a few minutes, the corridor sloping slightly downwards with several stairs to aid in the descent underneath the gargantuan city, they finally reached a well lit room. A robotic bell sound emanated through the room.

"Ah guests!" Came a call from the back room, the voice having a slight nasally tone to it.

A small deep pink skinned rat like creature moved swiftly through a door on the far side of the room and came scuttling over to Ratchet, Clank and Adken.

"Greetings customers! And welcome to William Pazner's shop! I am sorry for not greeting you at first, I was eating a very fine fisherman's pie and am now feeling slightly bloated to be perfectly honest with you."

_He's quite eccentric. _Adken noted.

"Hey Will." Ratchet greeted the small, what the Lombax had called Markazian, creature cheerily, "How's business been down here?"

"Good, good thank you Ratchet. Now, you know how I like to get down to business quickly; what is it you are here for? Perhaps some more constructo upgrades perhaps?"

Ratchet laughed, "After that last rocket upgrade you tried to give me I think I'll pass. I'm here about omniwrenches; I hear you are quite the expert?"

William grinned, "Yes, yes that is so! Whom is it for, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My friend here." He motioned to Adken who was still wearing the hood and balaclava to mask his face, "He's in need of a decent weapon."

"I see." The Markazian eyed up Adken suspiciously, "And might I enquire as to why he is wearing _that_?"

Clank interjected at this point, noticing Ratchet was unsure as to his reply to the question, "There are people that we do not wish to see him. That is all."

"Interesting! Well, it was slightly rude of me to ask in the first place... But if he's like that," He laughed enthusiastically, "Then I can understand. Anyway! Omniwrenches! No need to ask about what you need, I've got an idea already." William said, rendering any questions that Adken thought he would have had to answer obsolete.

"Let's see." He began sifting through a large drawer causing large metallic clangs to resonate across the whole room.

"How about this one? Go on. Give it a swing!" William held out a rather small wrench with a large blue and silver head. A small green light sat in the middle of the head where several cables were connected to the head and shaft of the weapon.

Taking the wrench that had been offered to him Adken took it by the handle and tried to grip it firmly. "It feels like it's leaning forwards too much, like it has a weight in the head."

"Indeed, it is weighted! Well observed. However, I do have something else if that is not to your taste."

Again the Markazian began sorting through the various drawers of well organised omniwrenches, "Here you go! Quite the specimen this one, both beautiful _and _elegant. Try it!" Flicking the wrench down a large handle slid out from the bottom to create an elongated grip of dark metal with a grip of jet black wrapped around it.

Hefting the omniwrench Adken felt the balance again, even with the small amount of experience he'd had handling items and testing their balance Adken could tell that this one was indeed beautifully balanced and precise. He gripped it by the middle of the three foot long pole with both hands and gave it a swing, being careful not to hit Ratchet.

"This feels... _Good._ That's the only way I can describe it."

"Excellent! Excellent indeed! Second try that time, almost my personal best."

"Thanks Will. How much is it by the way? _Before _I start spending all my bolts on your wrenches."

"That will be five thousand bolts I believe."

"Not too bad." Ratchet acknowledged. "We'll take it then. And I'll buy some more ammunition for my omni pistols too, if you don't mind."

"All the better for my business Ratchet! So that comes to six thousand bolts."

Acquiring some of the strange currency from a pouch Ratchet handed over the payment to William, "There you go, six thousand bolts."

"Excellent! Excellent indeed! And, as always, I shall tell no one you were here."

Both Clank and Ratchet smiled thankfully, it was the robot who replied, "You have been a great help to us William. Thank you."

"No problem Clank! Glad to have finally been able to sell another omniwrench! That's always been my speciality."

"And you have my thanks also." Adken added.

"Well we'd better head off; see you around Will!"

"And you too Ratchet, Clank."

The Markazian followed the trio as they returned back up the stairs to the entrance, "Safe travels Lombaxes!" William called after them as they walked away.

"Did he just say Lombaxes?" Adken asked, curious.

"I believe he did." Clank admitted.

"Ah well, not to worry too much. Though I am curious as to how he worked it out." Ratchet scratched his chin.

"I think I've worked out why." Adken turned around his body and pointed to the white and auburn furred tail that protruded from his trousers. The three of them burst into laughter.

"Haha. Wow. I didn't notice that." Ratchet managed to say in between bouts of laughter.

"Neither did I Ratchet." Clank added. "Though, I do believe it best if we continue back to Aphelion I think some people are beginning to look at us."

Adken snatched a glance at a few people now walking around the plaza eyeing the three of them haughtily, "I think that's a good idea." Ratchet replied, still laughing but had managed to stand upright and regain his breath.

"Let's head back to Veldin; it's time to test out this omniwrench of yours." Ratchet said, leading the way down the narrow back streets of Metropolis to where they had left Aphelion.

As they walked away Adken noticed a strange looking creature sat on a bench nearby. The person, a male Adken surmised, was busy talking into a phone rapidly and glancing repeatedly at the three of them. Not wanting to bring rise to his concerns again, as he had very often the past few days, he instead concentrated on the thought of enjoying learning how to use this new omniwrench he had just acquired.


	7. Training

_Grip firmly on the centre of the handle and swing, head hits the surface._

The holographic training dummy shimmered out of existence as the omniwrench struck it firmly on the temple.

_And again._

Adken had been practicing the basic moves for, what he thought to be, an hour or so. The rhythm of swinging then waiting allowed him to alleviate some of the stress that had built up inside of him; the majority of that from the loneliness that he was battling against currently, as well as the suspicious figure who had appeared in Metropolis.

_Strike backwards, swing into and through._

Ratchet had been a good teacher, especially since he hadn't been formally trained in omniwrench combat. Apparently, there used to be a special type of Lombax guard called the 'Praetorian' guards who had their own unique omniwrenches, one of which Ratchet had shown to Adken. The weapon was intriguing, with a wrench like appendage at each end and a long pole in the middle. Similar to his own except with the extra wrench head and more length to the pole.

_Two hands on grip, downward strike._

Giving himself simple commands as he performed the moves allowed the youth to focus; when he was younger he remembered studying martial arts as part of a programme that his school was running. Although he had abandoned that pursuit he still retained a lot of the knowledge he had acquired from it.

"Adken, are you still training?" A quiet robotic voice emanated from somewhere behind Adken.

The Lombax grunted in response, focusing on hitting the two holographic Agorians that had appeared.

"It is of detriment to your well being to physically exert yourself for this long. Ratchet and I are concerned that you are spending too long in here. Is it because of your depression loneliness?" Clank enquired trying his best to put on a fairly innocent tone; as well as a robot could manage anyway.

Adken responded with an even louder grunt striking the two holograms through the chest, his omniwrench a blur as it whipped around his body.

"I shall return to Ratchet then." The robot responded; his light footsteps could be heard moving slowly towards the door.

Adken sighed, "Sorry Clank. I'm just attempting to relax, that's all." It was not fully a lie, he _was _trying to take some of the weight off of his shoulders. However, the white furred Lombax avoided the question that had been posed to him.

_I shouldn't be letting these feelings of despair and hopelessness get to me... It's just I haven't even known Ratchet and Clank that long and, even though I see them as friends, I can't put aside the fact that there are people who have cared for me for my whole life who I've left. They're gone now though, and I suppose I shall have to rely on others._

"That is good to know that you are trying to relax Adken." Clank replied reassuringly.

"Yeah... Clank?"

"Yes Adken?"

"We're going to see a lot more action like the other day, aren't we?"

Clank gazed at the floor solemnly, "I am afraid so Adken. The universe has another threat at its door yet again. And, as always, people like me and Ratchet are looked to for aid. We did not wish for you to become entangled in this fight."

"It's okay Clank... I just feel like sitting here doing nothing would be unproductive. And-" Adken took a few seconds to utter the next words, for admitting to this was difficult for him, "You're right. I am finding this difficult. I just feel like I need someone I know and trust fully. But at the moment I can't quite work out who that is. No offence intended Clank."

"None taken," The small robot replied.

"Starting out by finding who was watching us in Metropolis would put me slightly more at ease."

Clank raised a robotic eyebrow, "Who was it that wa-"

A loud crashing noise emanated from the garage.

"Ratchet! I must attend to him, follow me Adken." Clank sprinted off into the garage to see what it was that had caused the disturbance. Adken followed swiftly behind, sheathing his omniwrench in the holster on his back.

The white furred Lombax entered to a very peculiar scene; Ratchet was lying underneath a huge green clad being who was busy, what appeared to be, greeting and crushing the yellow furred Lombax at the same time.

"Get off me!" A muffled voice came from undernearth the gargantuan body, "Qwark! Ge' off me!"

"Apologies Ratchet!" The green _thing _now stood upright, revealing itself to Adken. What he had thought to be a vicious Lombax eating alien was actually someone that was human in appearance. There were several differences however; the man, as that is what he appeared to be, had three fingers on each hand and exaggerated features as well as being ten feet tall. His voice was dripping with over confidence and self assuredness. Something that comes from being slightly _too _gloating about oneself.

"Thank you for not crushing my companion Qwark." Clank replied with the politest tone he could muster; although the robot still sounded fairly threatening to Adken.

_Qwark, I remember that name from somewhere but I can't quite place it... I'll see how this plays out, perhaps he will tell me who he is; he seems like the sort of person to gloat about himself._

"Never fear Clank; I would never flatten your sidekick and joint saviour of the universe, along with myself of course!"

_Well, that didn't take long for my suspicions to be proven correct. _Adken mused.

"Why are you here?" Ratchet inquired, dusting himself off, "I thought you were meant to be president of the Polaris galaxy."

"That I am Ratchet. However, my duties lie elsewhere at the moment." He held a hand to his chest over dramatically and looked into the sky, "For the people of Solana also need my help."

Ratchet rolled his eyes whilst Qwark was looking away, "Right, but that doesn't answer my question."

"Ah of course, yes... I am here with the lovely Ms Talwyn Apogee to call for your aid in the current affair with these 'disappearing planets'" He made a strange waving hand gesture when he said this, "and have only just been able to locate you. After you visited Metropolis of course."

"Excuse me, President Qwark sir." Adken interjected, Qwark's attention immediately diverted to the white furred Lombax after being called sir.

"Ah, I always like people who call me sir. And who might you be? Ratchet never mentioned any other Lombaxes were staying with him."

"He's not been here for long." Ratchet rejoined the conversation, "We found him on Fastoon, lost. Me and Clank decided to keep him safe for a while until he can work out where he came from and how to get back to the Lombaxes. His memory is still a bit fuzzy."

"I see. He is welcome along of course if you are helping us save the galaxy in heroic fashion once more!" The green clad, and rather strange, person leaned in to Ratchet and whispered in an overly loud tone, "Is he _your_ new sidekick then?"

"No!" Ratchet retorted, "No he is not. And why do you seem to have this impression that we're going to help you? We're _retired _now. That means no more working tirelessly to stop the villains. It means I can have lazy days and sleep in for once."

"I'm afraid that you won't have a home to sleep in much longer if you do not help us Ratchet." A female voice drifted in through the garage now; one that Ratchet seemed to recognise with ease.

"Tal?"

"Hello Ratchet, long time no see."

"Tal! How have you been?" The pair greeted each other with a hug; once they had finished Adken noted the new person's appearance. She had similar skin colour to William Pazner except slightly paler so Adken assumed she was Markazian. Standing at a similar height to Ratchet she was slightly shorter than Adken. Long brown hair flowed down from a red headband that kept her hair neatly behind her face.

"I have been well thank you Ratchet. Who is this new Lombax then?"

"Adken, meet Talwyn." Ratchet motioned to both Talwyn and Adken.

"A pleasure to meet you Adken." The Markazian offered a hand in greeting which Adken took, smiling nervously back.

"Good to meet you too."

"Anyway." Talwyn continued, "Down to business. What do you know about these disappearances?"

Clank replied, "I have studied their patterns and deciphered that they are strategic colonies of varying species. If you look at them individually there is no apparent correlation; although when placed together there are some evident similarities. For example the colonies are small and isolated enough for a disappearance to go unnoticed for some time as well as only one colony of each species disappearing."

"Indeed Clank. That is what we deciphered as well at the meeting. However, no one seems to willing to pursue the matter any further. That is why we came to you two for help because we'd assumed that-"

"Thanks Tal for coming to visit but me and Clank are seriously out of business now."

"What if I told you that we found remnants of Lombax technology signatures in the places where these disappearances have happened?"

Ratchet raised an eyebrow in interest, "Really?" The Lombax let out a long sigh, "Then I suppose that is of interest to me and Clank. Is Adken okay to come along?"

"Well I brought Qwark here so Adken should be much less trouble, I hope so at least." Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn shared a laugh, Adken shuffling his feet nervously.

"Sounds good then. I'll pack our gear then we can head off to find this planet."

…

"Now approaching Tyhrranosis, Solana Galaxy." Aphelion announced, "Disengaging warp drive."

The scenery outside changed from a vortex and dark blue and purple to a darker black as the ship slowed down on the approach to the planet. Once Aphelion had slowed down to normal travelling speed could Adken see the planet below them. To him it looked uninhabitable, barren, arid land coating its surface. However, Clank had told him that it was home to a race called the Tyhrranoids. Due to the natives' hostile nature both Ratchet and Talwyn had agreed to bring along some weapons with them, just in case. Adken was carrying his omniwrench, which was currently sheathed and down by the side of his seat, and one of Ratchet's old constructo pistols.

"Landing."

A judder ran through Adken as Aphelion brought herself down onto the surface of the planet.

"You have arrived at your destination."

"Thanks Aphelion." Ratchet replied, smiling. "Let's head out and meet up with Tal and Qwark and see what they wanted to show us here."

"Indeed Ratchet. Although I now understand why the council did not want us visiting here. The Tyhrranoids are still a dangerous species and it is best to deal with them whilst exerting caution." Clank replied.

"Yeah Clank, I know. We cleared this place out ages ago though, remember? And besides, there are some other colonies here now; perhaps some of them have information about this." Ratchet retorted.

"I am unsure that the inhabitants will be too friendly Ratchet; after all, we have landed on their planet and walked into their territory ready to fight an entire platoon of Agorian warriors."

"Well I couldn't leave my Judicator behind!" Ratchet patted a large rocket launcher that was strapped to his back.

"Never mind." Clank sighed and rubbed a hand on his forehead before continuing forward towards where Qwark and Talwyn were waiting. Adken followed suit, keeping good pace behind the duo.

"Ratchet, Clank, other guy!" Qwark bellowed in an overly loud voice which would almost certainly alert anyone within half a mile as to their location, "Hello there!"

"Hello Qwark." Ratchet responded in an evidently dreary tone, which Qwark ignored.

"Are you ready to depart then Ratchet?" Talwyn enquired in a much quieter voice, "Me and Qwark have gathered all of our things." The Markazian motioned to a small pistol at her own side as well as some strange equipment in a small rucksack that she held in one hand.

"Is that a trans-dimensional analyser Talwyn?" Clank inquired.

She grinned in reply, "Indeed it is Clank. If we've learned anything from what has happened before it is best to assume the worst; that being that these people have been taken to another dimension."

"Ah yes, my good old friend Artemis Zogg." Qwark added.

"You were the one who made him go insane." Ratchet muttered under his breath Talwyn knocking his arm lightly in a friendly manner.

"Indeed." Clank continued. "You may lead the way Ratchet, me and Adken will follow you."

_Why does he want to walk with me? _Adken mused, _Hmm. I wonder what Clank wants to talk about; perhaps it's something to do with this memory loss I've been suffering from. Even I still can't get my head around what happened before those Agorians attacked, and the memories that are in question are my own!_

The white furred Lombax sighed and went to run a hand through the fur on the top of his head, stopping himself when he realised what he was doing.

_That was... Weird. How come I did that? I never remember that being a habit. _He shrugged off his suspicions, _Ah well._

Although the doubt still lay at the back of his mind, Adken returned his focus to the task at hand – finding the cause behind these disappearances. According to Talwyn these strange occurrences had been taking place for some time now over various planets to entirely different species; however, it was only a short time ago that she and a few others had managed to piece together enough information to begin an investigation. It had only taken Clank half an hour to work out the connection but he was a robot with many years of experience, so he had a distinct advantage on that front.

"Where I've located the disappearance to have occurred is in a settlement not too far from here." Talwyn said, breaking the silence that had formed in the group, "Since the local Tyhrranoid population is currently at zero, we should be okay to enter. However, it is always best to take precaution so that is why we are equipped as we are."

Whilst Talwyn explained the plan to the rest of the group, Adken also carefully listening in case he missed anything important. That was until Clank spoke, "Adken, I wish to talk to you about what happened." The robot stated in a matter of fact fashion.

"What is it you want to ask?" Adken replied in an inquisitive tone.

"As you yourself have said Adken you wish to know more about what happened before you suffered from the severe case of concussion."

"I do Clank; it's just... Aside from you knowing about how I met you and Ratchet, and how I somehow managed to remember about you two, how much more do you know about my past? Before that, I was stuck travelling the galaxy! I'm not sure which galaxy but-"

"That is the point Adken. Even you do not remember anything."

"Wha- I just told you what I remember! That is what happened!"

Ratchet, Qwark and Talwyn glanced over their shoulders at Adken's raised voice; Clank motioned for them to continue walking. The trio promptly turned around and continued their own conversation.

"I am afraid not Adken. Please do not get distressed about this but that is not what happened to you in the past."

"What did happen to me th-"

"This looks like the settlement now!" Talwyn exclaimed, interrupting Adken inadvertently.

The settlement they were approaching was middling in size, around two score of solid metal buildings resting in the middle of the arid landscape dotted across the various rocks and plains. Big enough to be called a colony but too small to be called a town.

"Just let me get out the trans-dimensional analyser." After fumbling around in the rucksack for a score of seconds she pulled out a small square device with a screen covering its front; many different slots and cables coated the rest of the object all of which were very confusing to Adken. Clank, however, took an evident interest in the strange thing.

"Intriguing. I assume this is similar technology to the device that I am accustomed to, yes?" The robot inquired.

"Yes, it is." Talwyn replied, her main efforts focusing instead on getting the trans-dimensonal analyser to function.

"Ah-ha!" She exclaimed suddenly.

"It's running a scan now." The Markazian continued.

"I shall run a scan also to assert that there are no anomalous results." Clank added.

Leaving the two to concentrate Adken waited patiently for the experiment to finish, rubbing the end of his pistol nervously; he noted that Qwark and Ratchet were doing the same. He knew they wouldn't admit to it, especially Qwark, but all of them were nervous. After Talwyn had explained where they were going, and Ratchet had given the briefing to Adken about the planet as he knew nothing of it. Hearing of the Tyhrranoids had made Adken very uneasy, even though they had apparently disappeared some time ago, along with some other inhabitants of this planet, due to the strange events that had been occurring across the universe.

"There is definitely some activity here." Talwyn noted after a minute or so; "Fairly recent. It seems to be similar to some old Lombax tech used in things similar to the dimensionater but the readings are somehow different. It's almost as if it's been modified entirely, much smaller scale and only on living matter. To do that would be nigh on impossible with current levels of resources and technology; how would it be able to lift all these people off one planet without disturbing their homes?"

"More importantly, why is it Lombax tech?" Ratchet said, "Surely that means it's some_one _not some_thing _that is doing this."

"Indeed Ratchet," Clank added, "I am currently trying to trace the signal, although current results are reading as being out of the current range of satellites. In deep space where barely anything has been seen for a long time; aside from the occasional prison ship."

"Deep space eh?" Ratchet scratched his chin, "I wonder."

Adken began pondering about this conundrum also, attempting to get his head around it; suddenly an idea came to him, unbidden, "Perhaps... Prison ships... Perhaps the people are being taken for a prison of some sort!"

"That is probable," Clank replied.

"I dunno pal." Ratchet interjected, "Why would anyone want to capture Tyhrranoids? They're pretty useless to have as prisoners, too violent. Unless there are other species on this planet that were taken."

"Sorry, it was just an idea." Adken apologised, glancing down at his feet.

"I was just trying to contribute Adken, sorry." Ratchet replied.

"It's okay." The white furred Lombax responded, "It was a fairly silly idea anyways."

"Wait! Wait!" Talwyn had been examining the small screen of her device whilst the others had been talking, and it was now evident that something important had appeared, "I can trace the source of the device back... Damn!"

"What is it Tal?"

"I lost track of the connection. Damn it! I was so close to finding out who it was that built the device that did this." Suddenly, the Markazian glanced over into the distance, "What the..." She mumbled to herself.

The other three members of the group, swiftly followed by Captain Qwark who was busy staring off blankly into space, looked in the direction of Talwyn and noticed the object that she herself had taken an interest in which was what appeared to be a small piece of paper. Striding briskly over to it Talwyn picked it up and examined it closely, the other four slowly following after her.

"Oh my word." She put a hand over her mouth in shock, "Oh my..."

"What is it Ms Talwyn?" Clank asked, the curiosity in his tone clear.

"Oh my... It's..." She held out the piece of paper which Ratchet took and scanned quickly.

"Wow... Pal, take a look at this." The Lombax offered it to Clank who also read through the, what Adken assumed was, a note before passing it round to him. Carefully reading the writing on the page which he could understand, luckily, he managed to make out a few words through the scrawled writing.

_'Today they came. They came to take us away from our hom-'_

"Bloody hell." Adken muttered, suddenly unsure of where he had got the expression from; his mind was too busy thinking about the note to have his attention towards that however.

Qwark took the piece of paper from Adken's slack hand and read it slowly, mouthing the words as he went along. "Intriguing. It seems we have a mystery on our hands."

"Quite." Talwyn responded.

"This must have been a settlement for another species then. You said it was only one species that disappeared right?" Ratchet replied.

"Indeed it was." Clank responded, "Although the energy signatures are not clear."

"Well this is great." Ratchet replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "Now I have even _less _of a clue about what's going on."

"As do we all, Ratchet." Clank replied.

"We need to think of a course of action... I know! We should search out a nearby settlement and ask people what they saw!" Qwark blurted out. "With my interrogation skills I learned from a certain Terachnoid I should be able to extract any information we need with ease."

"Aside from the last part, that's actually a good idea." Ratchet noted.

"It seems to be the only thing we've got at the moment. I'm stuck for ideas too." Adken admitted.

"Indeed Adken. I believe that Qwark's solution is the best thing we have." Talwyn contributed.

"So that settles it then!" Ratchet continued, "We've got to find another settlement on this deserted planet!"

"According to my scanners there is one 7.89 miles from our current location on a bearing of 067 degrees."

"Well, let's hope any other inhabitants are more friendly than the natives. We've got a hunt on our hands."

_A hunt into the depths of space; to find both answers to their problems as well as my own. I do wonder what Clank was going to tell me._

Resolving to ask the robot later Adken jogged to catch up with the rapidly progressing group as they headed out across the arid landscape of Tyhrranosis.


	8. Questions

"We've been walking for a while now pal." Ratchet stated for the third time. "Couldn't we have just taken Aphelion?"

"That would have raised too much suspicion Ratchet." Clank replied.

"We're meant to be retired now Clank." the yellow furred Lombax replied, "I should be able to be lazy."

"Aside from the fact we are now out searching space for a new villain, yes. That is true Ratchet. We are retired."

Adken chuckled slightly, "Quite. Hey Clank, have you got a moment to answer a question?"

Clank quickly glanced to Ratchet then back at Adken again, "I shall discuss it with you at some other point Adken."

"Oh... Okay." The white furred Lombax replied, disappointment clear in his tone.

"What's that just over there?" Adken noticed that there was a slight undulation in the landscape to their right hinting the location of the settlement. As they moved closer the lumps became clear and more defined.

"It appears to be the settlement." Clank noted. "We had best use our disguises now, we do not want to raise any attention whilst in there."

Taking Clank's advice Ratchet and Adken, still unable to have attained a holo-guise, donned the same dark hoods and long cloaks that they had used in Metropolis; making sure to cover up their tails this time. Clank, as he had no disguise, would wait outside and be relayed information from the other four of the group.

That meant that Qwark was joining them in the investigation; as much as Ratchet and Talwyn disliked it they had decided that it would be unfair to leave Clank on his own with the blundering green behemoth for several hours and, as this part of the plan had been Qwark's idea, they had concurred that he should be able to come along.

When the other two caught up with Ratchet, Clank and Adken they were both wearing similar disguises to the two Lombaxes; simple black cloaks and hoods. Just enough to cover up their major features whilst still being light enough to travel around in.

"Let the investigations begin!" Qwark announced in an over dramatic fashion, striding off towards the cluster of buildings with Ratchet, Adken and Talwyn following closely.

…

"That seems to be some sort of bar over there; would that be a good place to start?" Adken whispered to Ratchet, whom he had been talking to as they walked to the small town.

"Sure, let's tell the others." Ratchet replied, quickly glancing around to check no one was watching him before briefly speaking to Talwyn and Qwark; they nodded their heads firmly and fell back slightly so as to enter the building after Ratchet and Adken.

Crossing the threshold the two Lombaxes lead the way into the stunted metal structure and looked around quickly as they entered to assess the building. What they had entered was indeed some sort of bar; a long bench with a rather shady looking Slademan standing behind it, glaring at both Ratchet and Adken and their strange guises, was at one end of the building. A shelf with a wide assortment of bottles and other various strange looking items was behind the barman. At the other end of the building sat in a corner was the sole patron, a humanoid creature, similar in appearance to Qwark but a lot shorter and with a smaller chest, sat with its hood over its head covering its facial features.

"That bartender looks like he would charge for information," Adken noted, "Perhaps we should ask the humanoid?"

"Sounds like a good idea pal. You know, you're pretty good at this sort of thing. Before everything that happened to you did you do something similar to this?"

"I can't really remember, sorry Ratchet," the white furred Lombax smiled apologetically.

"No worries. Now, let's see if this person has anything to say."

Before they could move away however, the bartender called over to them in a gruff voice, "Ey', you goin' to buy anything? Or take those hoods off for that matter."

"I am afraid we are not in need of a drink." Ratchet replied courteously, "We are here to talk to our associate down there." The Lombax motioned to the humanoid at the far end of the building.

"I see." The Slademan seemed to be assessing the two of them now, his eyes boring into the side of Adken's face. "Say, you aren't here for _information _are you? With all these strange things going on recently I can provide. Why, it'll only cost you seven thousand bolts."

Adken, now taking his turn to contribute, raised a hand in a thanking motion, "I am afraid we shall have to turn your offer down. We must meet with our associate now, if you'll excuse us."

"You're not going anywhere." A loud clicking came from to the left of Adken, his ears detecting the sound of a gun even as the Slademan had reached underneath the bar to pick it up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Gant." A deep male voice spoke out from the other end of the room. "That one on the right had a Judicator strapped to his back with a plasma striker and omni pistols in his bag. The other has a constructo pistol with optical sights as well as the two outside carrying laser pistols. The two in front of you are trained in omniwrench combat. I advise that you put your gun down, they're not worth it."

"Why should I believe you?" the Slademan called back.

"I've saved your arse more times than you know Gant. And besides, at least I pay for my drinks."

Gant let out a long sigh and placed the gun back under the bench, "I suppose I'd best let you two go then. But if you do want a drink you can have one. You still have to pay of course."

"It's fine." Ratchet replied, uncertainty in his tone.

"Let's see who this guy who just saved us is then." Adken whispered to Ratchet whilst Gant's back was turned, as he was examining some of the bottles on the shelf. "I'm interested to know how he knew about all our weapons."

"Me too." Ratchet replied.

Striding down the length of one of the narrow aisles of the bar, along which were several drab seating areas, Adken and Ratchet approached the person. Adken noted that Talwyn had gone to distract the bartender to prevent him from hassling the two Lombaxes further. Meanwhile, Qwark had done a sensible thing and taken a position on a nearby table with a small device in hand.

_That must be the communicator for Clank. _Adken surmised. _These guys are good. They must have done this quite a few times before._

The two Lombaxes sat themselves down opposite this strange man, Adken attempting to get a glance under his hood to see exactly who it was that was under the hood; of course he wouldn't know _who _they were but he could perhaps decipher exactly what species that they were.

Ratchet initiated conversation, "Thanks for saving us from being diced into small chunks by that shotgun back there."

"No worries. That seems to be my only job nowadays." The man replied, "Anyway, you haven't told me your names. Whom am I greeting?"

Noting the man's eagerness to ask about their names first Adken took caution with his words. _I had best not reveal my name to him. This would not be a good time to be honour bound and __give away__ our identities._

"I'm Lawrence." Adken pulled the name out of nowhere, unsure of where he had acquired it from.

"And I'm... Umm..." Ratchet seemed to ponder the name for a second, "I'm Qwark." Which caused the actual Qwark to glare at the Lombax from across the room.

The stranger seemed to raise an eyebrow underneath his hood.

"I see, good to meet you both. I am Darius. As you can see, we are both dressed in peculiar ways." Darius motioned to their garb, the hoods and cloaks making the three of them look particularly shady. "But that shows that you have exerted caution, which is good. Your fake names are also rather convincing. Especially yours 'Lawrence'."

Adken attempted to hide the slight shock at this man's observation skills; any sign of hesitation he was sure to latch on to. Ratchet retained a stony gaze, also focusing on the person in question. The white furred Lombax also thought he heard a rather loud gasp from Qwark, although he wasn't sure.

"Anyway! I am sure you are wondering why I helped you. It is because I too am looking into these disappearances, as is the reason I assume you came here looking around for information. Although I am more a mercenary than a private investigator, so you may be the ones telling me howthis all occurred."

"Yeah... Anyway, Darius, were you here when the colony disappeared? Or do you know anyone who was?" Ratchet inquired.

"That I was! It was around a week ago when it happened..."

…

_One week earlier._

"I strode through the small village with caution taking care to avoid alerting anyone to my presence in the alleyways; as the people who lived there were a suspicious bunch. They were separate from the others who lived on this planet which was the reason that they formed a colony. Anyway, as I was minding my own business, searching around for someone that I had been told would be a reliable contact for me and my search. That was until I heard a loud screeching and then a voice speak out from what seemed to be nowhere; although I did suspect that they hacked the speakers systems of the locals."

"It said something like, 'You have one hour.' And then cut off. That's when chaos erupted and everyone started screaming and running around. As terrifying as it was I kept calm and left, making sure I was a safe distance away from the village. I realised I would have to find another contact, but I knew that my safety was far more important. I got myself to a safe distance and used the scope from my flux rifle to get a better view of what was taking place. People seemed to have calmed down slightly, but what I saw next disturbed even me. Everyone was grouped up in an orderly manner outside of the buildings. A whole town of people were cowering in a circle moving closer and closer together by some unseen force. I was picking up heat signatures from somewhere nearby but I wasn't sure what it was, so I assumed that someone was using camouflage gear."

"Anyway, I should continue with what I was saying. After all these people had been gathered up there was a large rumbling noise followed by a large blue and dark beam of some sort opening out of nowhere. After that all the people were sucked through like in a teleporter and nothing was left. That's all I can recall really."

"I see." Adken rubbed his head firmly, he now had a rather bad headache from all of the information that had been thrown at him. The Lombax hadn't assumed that he would have to remember this much.

"Thanks for the help Darius." Ratchet proffered a hand in thanks which Darius took. The humanoid wore thick black gloves but just above the line of the top of the glove Adken noted the colour of his skin. It appeared to be a pale colour, similar to Qwark's, but dark red and leathery in parts. Almost like the hide of some animal. As soon as he had moved his hand it retreated back under the table.

"Anyway, I was glad to be of service to you both. I wish you and your associates the best of luck in resolving this issue; because it needs to be stopped. Whoever it is."

"Again, thanks," Adken added, "And best of luck with your own search."

"Indeed..." Darius seemed to contemplate something for a moment before he spoke, "And by the way, when you're stuck for answers head to where you came from and find the bunker."

"What does that mean?" Adken asked, incredibly curious as to why Darius had felt the need to say that.

"Not sure really, just something cryptic I heard from someone I knew ages ago. They said if anyone came looking for me in this manner to tell them that. I've only ever told it to one person before you but I'm not sure if they made use of it."

"Oh okay... Thanks then. We'll be seeing you." The white furred Lombax replied, uncertain of what to say.

"Bye!" Darius called after them, giving the duo a small wave. Leaving Ratchet and Adken to leave the bar with Qwark and Talwyn to follow shortly after.

"I'll call Aphelion and tell her to meet us at Clank." Ratchet said, speaking to no one in particular. "We should get on our way before anything else strange happens."

"I agree." Adken said, still uneasy after their conversation with Darius. "I suppose we managed to learn something though."

"Yeah... But how did he know so much? We took more precautions this time. It's as if the whole galaxy knows our whereabouts... I'll ask Clank about it later."

Adken nodded in agreement, "Ah, here's the other two."

Qwark greeted them, "Hello there Ratchet, Ratchet's sidekick."

"Hey there Ratchet, Adken." Talwyn said, "Are you two okay? You look as if you've seen an army of Cragmites.

"Not quite Tal. I'll explain to you later, once we get away from this place. I've called Aphelion to meet us near Clank and I suggest you get your ship as well. We need to get back to Metropolis, and soon."

"Why, what's happened?" Talwyn replied, starting to walk forward and keep pace with Ratchet and Adken. Qwark noticed that the group was moving and jogged to catch up, "Ratchet, what happened?"

The yellow furred Lombax sighed, "I dunno Tal. Me and Adken are really confused about all of this. I need to talk to Clank about it first, he'll know more about it than me. And besides, I'm starting to think I should've stayed retired."

With that Ratchet strode off pulling his hood firmly down over his head and walked off into the desert, leaving the rest of the group to catch up.

…

_A blue light flickered into existence in front of Adken, glowing faintly in the darkness that surrounded him._

_'Where am I?' He asked, his voice echoing of unseen walls._

_'Where you came from. Find the bunker.'_

_Again, more cryptic words with no way to make sense of them._

_'Remember.' As the word was spoken a blur of images came to Adken unbidden; ones of a strange world with trees and brick buildings, of peculiar vehicles and humanoid people._

_'Humans' The voice called out again._

_'What's that supposed to mean?' Adken shouted back causing another flash of scenes to spark into his field of vision. Ones of a room, piles of books and a voice which he recognised yet the name of which escaped him._

_A laugh now emanated from the darkness. 'Remember, else you will lose yourself.'_

…

A loud beeping awoke Adken from his slumber.

"Ungh, alarm... Clock." He stretched a furred hand outwards and fumbled around to find the touch screen of the device. After a few seconds the beeping ceased.

"What was... Ugh, never mind." The Lombax mumbled to himself, pushing away the duvet from the couch in the Metropolis apartment. _I've had too many weird dreams recently. They're just becoming an annoyance. I do wonder what those flashbacks were..._

An image of a woman in her late thirties flashed through his vision, she had long brown hair, smooth skin and a kind face with deep green eyes.

_Laura. Wait. How do I..._

Adken sighed again, rubbing his head, _I'll have another headache at this rate. _He quickly glanced across at the clock to check the time, _If I don't hurry up I'm going to be late too. Ratchet and Clank will already be waiting around for me._

Pushing himself upright Adken stood and stretched his arms above his head before picking up some clothes and finding the bathroom so he could get changed. Taking off the lightweight trousers he had been wearing whilst he slept Adken donned a protective under layer of body plated armour before slipping a dark red shirt over the top which fit snugly over the armour. He then picked up some trousers which were black in colour and lightweight too; Adken slipped those on then put on a thick jacket and some leather boots which Ratchet had given him back on Veldin. In a small rucksack he carefully placed his pair of hover boots as well as a heavily modified constructo shotgun and constructo pistol. On his back went his omniwrench which the Lombax preferred to keep within close reach at all times.

Having finished preparing himself Adken headed back out into the apartment and to the entrance where he assumed Ratchet and Clank would be waiting. The duo were stood looking slightly on edge, although at the sight of Adken their moods seemed to lighten slightly.

"Greetings Adken," Clank said, "Shall we depart?"

"I'm ready as long as you two are," The white furred Lombax replied. "I've got everything I need in here," He motioned to the rucksack that he had slung over his back.

"Excellent," The small robot continued, "If you would follow me and Ratchet we shall lead the way."

Taking the lead Ratchet and Clank entered the lift outside their apartment and headed down the tall apartment block in the centre of Metropolis, occasionally saying a phrase or two to each other; but generally they remained silent with serious looks on their faces. Ratchet did make a few comments now and then that he chuckled at but aside from that the three of them remained focused on where they were going.

It had taken them around a week's worth of organisation, as well as lots of pressuring councillors on Talwyn's part, to arrange a private meeting with the high ranking members of the galactic council. They had seemed rather reluctant to hear about the evidence that they themselves had requested for. Something about that made Adken slightly wary of the council's actual intentions. _Ratchet and Clank know that too. That's why they're acting as they currently are. All we can hope for is them to receive our findings well and offer more help I suppose; however, that is a lot to ask of politicians._

Reaching the bottom of the building the three of them strode out into the bustling streets of Metropolis; Adken not having donned his disguise this time as they thought that the council would receive them better if he turned up _not _looking like a thief. The two Lombaxes were already attracting the attention of some of the citizens although it was early in the day, so most people were still inside.

"It's not far to the council building," Ratchet whispered to Adken who was close behind the Lombax and the robot, "Hopefully we don't attract too much attention. I suppose Qwark isn't with us this time at least." The two Lombaxes shared a quiet smirk, "But anyway, almost there now."

As Ratchet spoke a humongous building came into view. The front was adorned with a large crest of some sort, Adken assumed it was the one of the Solana galactic council, with multiple large glass panes running down the centre of the structure separating the segments of the building. At the bottom was a rather underwhelming revolving door which opened onto a large entryway.

"Looks fairly quiet today," Ratchet noted, "Let's go and see if there's anyone in."

Entering the building Adken took a moment to admire the structure before catching up with Ratchet and Clank who were already a fair ways ahead.

"Ratchet, Clank! Good to see you."

"Chairman Jarne," Ratchet replied to a slim and tall humanoid, "How are things over in Solana?"

"Not well I am afraid Ratchet, as I am sure you know. That _is _why you have come to speak with us today, yes?"

"That is so Chairman." Clank replied. "We have found some evidence linking to the disappearances."

"I see." The chairman raised a thick and bushy eyebrow, "Please, follow me. I am afraid your associate will have to stay behind however."

"He helped us get this evidence together Chairman," Ratchet interjected, "I think he should at least be allowed in with us."

"What we are about to talk about is confidential, regardless of who has helped who. Else we would have everybody in the universe claiming that they had saved some planet or another and trying to get into the council. He stays."

"I am afraid that won't be the case chairman." Talwyn now appeared from behind Jarne and stood next to Ratchet, Clank and Adken, "I can attest to the fact that he was with us, so he stays or you aren't getting any of the information that we have acquired.

Chairman Jarne sighed in response, running a three fingered hand through his long brown hair, "I suppose he can stand at the side," he admitted, heading back into the room where Talwyn had just appeared from.

"Come on, we've been waiting for you guys." Talwyn said, following the Chairman.

Ratchet smiled and turned to face Clank, "Well, here goes nothing pal." And headed off into the lower floor's conference room with Adken entering and immediately finding himself a comfortable spot along the wall. The room that they stood in was also large, akin to the rest of the building, with a large semi-circular window at the end and intricate metalwork along the sides. _These politicians must be compensating for something. _Adken thought, chuckling to himself.

"Greetings everyone." Chairman Jarne announced from the end of the table that the group had chosen to sit at – the one nearest the door. "I am certain that all of you are aware why we are here." The five or so councillors, as well as a few others including Talwyn Apogee, Ratchet and Clank all nodded their heads. "Some evidence has recently come to light as to why these disappearances have been occuring. Ms Talwyn, if you would." Standing to one side he allowed Talwyn to take his place at the head of the table.

"Hello everyone; today I am here to present to you some theories that I and my friends," She motioned to Ratchet, Clank and Adken in turn, "Have discussed about as to these strange disappearances that have been taking place. However, I should be calling them kidnaps as it has now become evident that someone has been carrying out these mass kidnappings both systematically and swiftly leaving us no chance to retaliate."

Next Talwyn took out a small holo-graphic projeector device and pressed a button on the top of it, causing it to spark into life and project a flickering image of what appeared to be a galaxy onto the wall at the end of the room. "We have managed to calculate an approximate location of the whereabouts of these missing colonies," The projection now zoomed in on a small section of the galaxy revealing a planet surrounded by what appeared to be empty space. "Here is the location of said signal."

One of the councillors spoke up, "Excuse me, Ms Apogee."

"Yes councillor Laurentius, what is it?"

"How do you know that there is anything there? From what I recall that sector has been deserted for years, even by merchants who would normally just pass through. Why would you suspect anyone would be hiding out there?"

"For exactly those reasons councillor. Even though the vessel would have to be large enough to carry all of these people there is some very advanced camouflage tech out there nowadays. I wouldn't be surprised if they were using that."

"An interesting notion Ms Apogee," Chairman Jarne now chipped in to the conversation.

"It was Adken's idea." She added.

"I see." Jarne glanced across at Adken and briefly ran his eyes up and down the Lombax before continuing, "However, that is only one piece of evidence. Do you have anything else to contribute or is this session over?"

"Clank, if you could."

"Of course Ms Apogee," Clank replied now standing from his seat and taking a place next to Talwyn at the front of the room, "Greetings councillors," The small robot continued, "I shall now play you a short recording of a witness of the event that transpired on Tyhrranosis."

Pressing a button on his centre console Clank stood still and let the recording of the conversation between Darius, Adken and Ratchet play. Talwyn, Ratchet, Adken and Clank had made sure to remove anything that they did not want to council to have heard or they deemed unnecessary meaning that the recording only lasted a few minutes.

"That is all we managed to gather from him."

"Interesting." Chairman Jarne scratched his chin, the other councillors talking amongst themselves. "That evidence is far more substantial. However, what do you wish for us to do about this?"

"We would need some form of assistance from the galactic rangers as well as your support in the form of supplies and political support to lead the investigation." Talwyn replied, so smoothly and calmly that Adken was almost certain she had rehearsed it.

"Wait a-"

"I believe that is a reasonable request." A small Markazian chirped up from amongst the few councillors present, "Apologies for interrupting you chairman."

"No worries Vio." Jarne replied, "Please, continue."

"Anyway, as I was saying," Councillor Vio continued, "I am sure we of the Solana Galactic council could provide for your expedition to find this ship; as I am sure Captain Qwark is already doing over in the Polaris galaxy. Are you in agreement Chairman?" A thin smile now crossed the Markazian's lips as he finished.

Chairman Jarne sighed, "I _suppose _a few Galactic Rangers can be spared. However, you will need to give us a week or two to prepare for departure. Until then you may do whatever you wish. Council dismissed." He waved a hand through the air and strode out of the room, robes flapping behind him as he walked.

"What a cheery fellow," Ratchet said to Adken as the two met at the entrance to the conference room. "Let's just hope that he holds up his end of the bargain because, as I'm sure you know by now, we can't rely on Qwark for anything."

Adken laughed, "Pretty much." And headed off back through Metropolis with Ratchet and Clank, who had now caught up, at his side towards the apartment. Not noticing the two camouflaged mercenaries who were following them at a distance.


	9. Experiments

"Sir, the test is ready to begin." The Terachnoid announced.

"Good, let me get into position. Could you operate the equipment please?" Grieg asked.

"Of course sir." Scuttling over to a large console the Terachnoid began rapidly typing in commands, "Apparatus in position."

"As am I. Begin the test." Staring out over the small room that he had managed to convert into a sort of pseudo test centre Grieg observed the Agorian subject who had been sedated and stood in the centre of the room. "Make sure the protective fields are activated. We don't know what could happen; if it becomes unstable then we will have problems with the rapid protein synthesising catalyst."

"Yes sir." A quiet humming emanated from the room as the protective shields which had also been set up were turned on, "Shields active."

"Good. Now, let's see if this thing actually works." Keeping his attention on the Agorian the Cazar watched as the needles sank into the side of the creature, although it did not react in the slightest.

_Good, the sedatives are working. Let us see whether there are any physical changes with this one, if so then I'll need to change the serum._

Slowly the Agorian grew slightly taller, its muscles even more defined than usual. However, just as Grieg predicted that the increased neurological capacity should be increasing he noticed a slight discolouration occurring on the left arm of the Agorian.

_Blast. _He cursed to himself.

As soon as he had thought of it the pale discolouration rapidly spread across the whole of the creature before it promptly disintegrated.

"Good timing on the lasers there." Grieg commended the Terachnoid who smiled at the compliment, "If you hadn't done that I may have had to wash this coat."

"What do you believe the issue is sir?" The Terachnoid inquired.

"Probably the same as the past twenty times. I'll need to have a look at the catalyst we are using; until then take a break. I need some time to think too."

"Thank you sir."

"Oh, and by the way."

The small scientist turned around and raised a sole eyebrow, "Yes?"

"Would you ever use something like what we're developing? I mean, the Overseer wants it for his troops but I suspect there is a higher aim to all their scheming and overworking of our minds."

"I am afraid I would rather not say sir."

Grieg sighed, rubbing his temple, "Okay, off you go then."

_I've still got to report to the Overseer and I've already got a raging headache from all this work. _Grieg thought to himself, _If he revealed more about what it was he needed from my work I may have more of a clue where to go with it. 'The boss said to make some stupid sciency thing which will allow him to be all strong like an Agorian and clever like a Terachnoid and make enough for an entire colony of people.' Was not _overly _specific, I've been forced to make things up as I go along. Although, if I had Lombax DNA then their engineering brilliance as well as physical abilities would be perfect. I just need to perfect it so it isn't expressed too much. I'm sure the Overseer wouldn't appreciate becoming what he has dubbed a 'space rat'. Besides, I have respect for Lombaxes and what they achieved; as much as I wish to not harm the remaining two in the known universe I still need to extract as much as I can. And I'm more than certain that the Overseer will want to question them._

Grieg sighed and rubbed his head in thought again, _Hopefully he doesn't kill them before I get a chance to extract some of their DNA and test it. I'm going to need a lot of samples._

Having been so lost in thought Grieg had not realised that he was already at the bridge of the ship. Typing in the code he entered the room and immediately spotted the Overseer standing at the head of the ship looking out into space.

"Ah, it is my stupid little scientist. Good to see you."

"And to you too." Grieg replied as courteously as he could muster. "I'm here to speak to you about the tests, as you requested."

"Good, have you made any more progress then?"

"We have made some, we have managed to create a usable form of the serum; however, it does require the subject to be entirely sedated. Although none of the tests with the DNA codings we have used so far have been successful."

"So you haven't found a way to fulfil my bosses request?"

"I am afraid not," _And will be unable to get them evolve for the first time in known history if I keep on being pressured by everyone, _"Although as I speak more tests are being organised."

"I see. You know what happens if you don't work hard enough little Cazar."

"Indeed." Grieg replied, "Is there anything else you need to know?"

"I do not think so. Now be on your way; you have work to do." Again ending the conversation prematurely the Agorian left Grieg to head back down to the laboratories where a sole lab assistant waited for him. The rest had either been thrown out of the airlock or reassigned. The reassignment had been at Grieg's own request as he had found this particular Terachnoid to be invaluable to his work. The ones who had been 'shown the airlock' had been because of the Overseer.

"Any more results?" Grieg asked as he entered the laboratory.

"I am afraid not sir. Although I have deciphered what we could use to get the serum to function."

"And that is?"

"Well there are many species that have the specific amino acids, but I believe Lombaxes also have them in their genome. You did mention searching for a Lombax a while ago."

"That I did, I've just postponed it due to my research. Perhaps it is time to take up the Overseer's suggestion." Grieg replied, pondering what he would need for the journey out to Metropolis where he had discovered that the Lombaxes were staying. "If I left would you be able to mind the lab and run some more tests? It's just that our only limiting factor at the moment seems to be time."

"Of course sir, I would be delighted," The Terachnoid smiled whilst responding.

"Excellent." Grieg was also smiling now, _Looks like I'm off to find myself a Lombax. _He mused, _I'd best take my equipment, I never know if I'll need it. I'll inform the Overseer about my departure also, I'm sure he won't mind if I'm gone for a few days. Besides, I get to visit Metropolis again. The last time I was there... _Grieg thought back to the time he had spent in the city, _Ah well. The past is the past and what I did I should put to one side. _The Cazar had learned not to dwell on such things; instead, he prepared himself for the journey to the Solana galaxy and to find the second to last Lombax in the universe.

…

A large crowd was swarming closer and closer towards the trio as they walked through Metropolis.

"What's this all about?" Adken asked to no one in particular.

"I have no clue pal." Ratchet squinted to get a better look at the composition of the mob of people whose shouts could be heard quite easily now.

"Where's the other Lombax?"

"Is he here to help?!"

"What about the missing people? Where are they?!"

"I believe it would be best if we took an alternative route back to the apartment Ratchet." Clank said.

"I don't think that's gonna be possible Clank," The Lombax motioned ahead to where the entrance to their apartment lay and the people that were now swarming around it. "We're going to have to try and push through these guys. Adken, stay behind us, me and Clank will deal with this."

"Okay." Staying close to the duo they began moving through the throng of people.

"Seems you've got some admirers Adken," Ratchet noted, grinning slightly. There were several people holding up billboards with the words 'SHOW US THE LOMBAX' emblazoned across them in large letters.

"How cheery." Adken replied, evident sarcasm in his tone. "Next thing you know the media will be here."

"Not quite." Ratchet replied, now noticing to a slight clearing in the throng of people at the centre of which was a person who was kneeling down on the floor face obscured from their view.

"What the..." Adken muttered.

As the trio moved closer the person's face moved up to look at them. The woman, who was some sort of blue humanoid, stared at Adken with tears in her deep blue eyes.

"My child... They were taken away... Poor, poor..." She continued sobbing.

"Holy crap." Ratchet mouthed, looking down at the creature with shock.

"You!" She now shouted, pointing at Adken, "You can help. That's why you're here, yes?"

"Um, I don't-" Looking at the person directly now Adken noticed the flow of tears and sobs that were racking their body. Suddenly, a memory came unbidden to him...

"_Laura... Where are my mummy and daddy?"_

_The woman smiled at him reassuringly; it was a kind smile, one that Adken could tell was a true reflection of their personality._

"_Don't worry. Your mummy and daddy have had to go and work somewhere very far away. But don't forget," She placed a finger on his small nose, "They will always remember you. I'm sure you'll see them again."_

"_You promise?"_

"_I promise."_

"_Thank you." Adken placed his head on the person's chest, tears flowing freely as he cried at the thought of seeing his parents again._

The world seemed to spin around Adken, the tall buildings of Metropolis going above, then below, then above... Before he finally collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

…

Opening his eyes the world around Adken flickered into existence; he noticed that he was still in the same place as before but the crowd had now fallen back to allow room for the Lombax when he had collapsed.

"What happened... Ratchet? Clank?"

"Do not worry Adken; we are going to take you back to the apartment where you can rest. You most likely over exerted yourself."

"But all I was doing was wal-"

Clank interrupted Adken, "Let us depart, it would not be wise to stay around here much longer."

Feeling himself being lifted up and his arm slung over someone's shoulder Adken let himself drift off into his own thoughts as they head back to the apartment where he would be able to rest and collect his thoughts.

_I wonder if I should ask Clank about this. He tried to tell me something the other day but we haven't been able to talk since then... But Laura... That name..._

Another word came to mind.

_Earth._

_All these words and I have little idea as to what they actually mean. I'm getting too tied up in my own thoughts; it can't be good to be thinking about these things over and over. That person mentioned my parents... I wonder if... Where are my parents? Perhaps that person knows. _The white furred Lombax sighed, _I'll just ask Clank._

…

When Adken next regained his consciousness fully he was lying down on the couch overlooking the city of Metropolis.

_I must have fallen asleep as soon as I got here. _Adken thought to himself, _I wonder how long I've been out? Judging by the darkness settling over the city it must have been almost half a day... I was probably exhausted. At least I can think clearly now._

The Lombax thought back to the strange visions that had come to him earlier.

_Not visions, memories! That's what they are! But then... No. That's not right. I remember being left by that merchant. Or... Or do I?_

_Ugh, I don't want to give myself yet another headache. I think I should just have a lie down; although I need to think about these flashbacks. Perhaps they're repressed memories, from my actual past... No. Don't think about that now. I need to rest._

Reaching behind his head and feeling for the pillow which someone had put there Adken shifted its position so he was comfortable and attempted to get some sleep. Although that did not come easily, and when it did strange dreams haunted him again.

_He was stood in a strange vehicle with several humanoids surrounding him. All of them were very small except for a few that were sat at the front of the vehicle. What was peculiar was that the three elders spoke in a language that Adken understood._

"_Do we have any records of his parents?" One of them asked, the same one from earlier._

"_I am afraid not." An elder male replied; he had greying hair and a short and well trimmed beard. He had a slight stern look on his face but not one that seemed overly threatening. "And DNA testing isn't good enough to trace it. Although I was reading an article from a while ago about a technique that is used for such a thing. Gel Electrophoresis I believe it is called."_

"_Interesting." The third replied, "That boy is rather strange though. He's always messing around with various things and making his strange inventions. For a four year old his level of mathematics knowledge already matches that of someone in year two. And his affinity for engineering is amazing. Well, as amazing as a young child's can be."_

"_Indeed." The man replied, "Yet that does not contribute to us finding out who Adken's true parents are. We've been looking into this for over three years now, since you" He motioned to the female, Laura she was called, Adken was unsure how he knew that, "found him in the forest."_

"_I just can't think of any way of tracing them. When I found Adken-" She suddenly cut herself off, as if she were about to say something that she had not meant to, "Never mind."_

"_Anyway, we had best get going else we're going get stuck in traffic on the way to the zoo."_

_As Adken's vision faded he noticed a small child with auburn hair peeking through the seat behind where the elders were sitting..._

…

"Adken, I wish to speak with you." A robotic voice said.

"Huh? Wha- Clank?"

"Yes, Adken?"

"Clank!" The Lombax shot up out of bed, Clank taking a step backwards surprised at how fast Adken had sat up. "Clank, I need to speak to you too!"

"You do?" It was evident that Clank was incredibly confused by what was going on, something that Adken had never seen the robot act like before.

"Yes!" Adken glanced around to make sure that no one was watching, "Is it about what happened to me before the Agorian's attacked us on Veldin?"

"Indeed Adken. Why is it that you are acting as you are? My calculations did not predict that you would respond thusly."

"Calculations?... Never mind. I was going to ask you about something. Do you know of a place called earth?"

"Affirmative, it is a planet a very long distance from here. Possibly in an alternate dimension."

"Right..."

Thoughts were flying through Adken's mind now; his brain struggling to make the connections however slowly, but surely, he managed to piece together enough to remember what he was going to say.

"Earth, is that." He struggled to utter the next phrase, "Is that where I came from?"

"I am unsure whether I should tell you." Clank replied, "It would not be of benefit to your mental well being."

"Why can't you tell me? I'll be fine."

"Very well; I shall play you a short recording to summarise any answers you may require." Taking a small device out of his central compartment, the object being similar in appearance to the one he had used yesterday when they were addressing the council, Clank pressed a small button on its side and held it upright allowing the recording to play.

"_Would you believe me," A voice which was identical to Adken's began, "If I told you that I had come through a rift in the very fabric of space and time and dumped into this world on a planet that I didn't know and," He took a deep breath, "That I was not like this until I came here?"_

"_Yes, I would." the recorded version of Clank replied cheerily._

"_Wha-"_

_Clank chuckled in his unique way, "Adken, you have to remember that Ratchet and I have had our fair share of inter dimensional experiences. We have had stranger things occur than this. If you don't mind me asking one more question, as all my others have been answered sufficiently; what were you before you entered this dimension? I noticed two sets of prints on Fastoon yet there was only one life form nearby."_

"_Well... I suppose, if I told you the word human would you know what that meant."_

"_I am afraid I do not. Would you be able to elaborate, perhaps describe your previous appearance?" Clank replied._

"_Well I was..." There was a pause as Adken thought about what he was going to say._

"_Humans are varying heights from four feet to eight feet but the extremes are very rare. Some of us have pinkish-white skin and others have darker due to living in different parts of our planet, similar to Lombax fur coats I suppose. We have fairly small eyes and hair as well as a more prominent nose. We have no fur to speak of except body hair. We are bipedal and stand upright. That's as much as I can think of really at the moment."_

"_So you are, or were, as Captain Qwark puts it an earthian?"_

The recording cut off and silence returned to the apartment.

"So." Adken began, "Could I have a minute to take this in? I think... I think..."

"I shall leave you for a moment," Clank replied, leaving the room so as to let Adken have a moment to himself.

_So I'm not from this world... Yet... Yet... I was convinced I was a Lombax. Perhaps the amnesia was worse than I thought and it caused me to forget a lot of things from before it occurred. Maybe the story that I crafted for myself was a lie too, something that I clutched on to to give myself something to believe in. I need some time to mull this over at the very least. Perhaps some more memories will come back to me. I'm surprised I wasn't in a coma if the amnesia was that severe. I suppose I was just lucky._

The sound of metallic feet pattering across the floor brought Adken back to his senses, "Hey there Clank."

"Greetings Adken. Are you satisfied with the answers that you have been given?"

"Yeah... I think so." The white furred Lombax replied, "I just need a while to rest and think it over." 

"Very well, I shall leave you to recuperate."

As Clank was leaving Adken called out to him, "And by the way Clank. Thank you."

The small robot chuckled in his unique way in response, "No worries Adken. My calculations were correct after all." And with that he walked off leaving the Lombax to think over what he had said.

_Ah well. I think I need to sleep again. All of these memories coming back has made me tired, but I'm excited. Although I do feel like I trust what I see less now... There's no telling whether something is real or the product of my imagination._

Resting his head on the pillow and putting his hands behind his head he stared off into space and relaxed; and for the first time since he arrived he felt like he could _truly _relax with the knowledge of himself restored.

…

Another dream came to Adken that night as with all of the thoughts that were flying around inside his head it was difficult to sleep soundly...

_He stood inside a small room. In one corner was a bed, in the other a desk with a dim lamp providing a faint light which illuminated the face of the woman who was sat a the desk. Behind her stood a well groomed man with short brown hair in a suit holding a wad of documents in one hand, a clipboard in the other._

"_Please may you record how you found the child Ms Davonshire."_

"_Yes, just give me a moment." She scrawled down a few things on the piece of paper before handing it over to the man who smiled thinly, "Many thanks. I shall take this to the agency who shall organise his documents. Thank you for your time." And with that the man left the room, the door closing silently behind him._

_When he departed the woman let out a sigh of relief._

"_Too close." She muttered to herself. "I couldn't tell him what I actually saw when I found him. Besides, no one would believe me. And the only other witness is long gone, he's probably off with some floozy in America... Since he never came back." Again she sighed, "No one can find out about Adken's secret. What if it happens again though? Never mind, I'll leave that thought for another time." With that the dream faded as the woman left the room, turning off the lamp as she went._

…

A week passed before Chairman Jarne re-adjourned the council to discuss the expedition to locate the ship where the colonies were being taken to. For Ratchet and Clank, most of their time had been spent twiddling their thumbs, not literally of course, and waiting for the Chairman to make the appropriate arrangements.

However, Adken had been preoccupied with the realisation that he had come to after passing out in the crowd outside the Metropolis apartments. Most of his free time had been spent mulling over the repressed memories that had resurfaced as well as what they could potentially mean; for he had not fully regained his memories from before the incident yet slowly but surely he was becoming more aware of his past.

On the morning of the meeting Ratchet, Clank and Adken met with Talwyn before heading out; although Qwark was nowhere to be seen. Apparently he was still in the Polaris galaxy, although he had been quiet which was incredibly unusual for the Galactic President.

"Morning Tal," Ratchet greeted the Markazian cheerily at the entrance to their apartment.

"Good morning to you also, Ms Apogee," Clank added.

"Good morning to you two too; shall we head to the meeting now? I'm sure the Councillors will be waiting for us."

"We are waiting for Adken. He shall be with us momentarily," Clank replied.

On cue the white furred Lombax strode out of the apartment clad in his casual attire of a shirt, jacket and trousers with his thick rubber boots. The only other thing that he carried with him was his omniwrench which was compacted and slung over his back.

"Hey everyone,"

"Greetings Adken," Clank replied cheerily, "Are you ready to depart?"

"I believe so," The white furred Lombax replied.

"Then let us depart," Clank stated, leading the way to the lift as the rest followed him down and out of the building towards the council hall.

The streets of Metropolis were quiet once more as the hour was early and, as usual, few people were around to witness the rather peculiar group of people striding down one of the many elevated walkways of the city towards the large building that dominated the skyline; its glass panes reflected some of the dim light of the early morning that was creeping in through the buildings.

"Fairly quiet again I suppose," Adken mumbled to himself, "Better than the normal bustle that always seemed to be around here. Normally when I looked down from the apartment it was always fairly busy, even at this time; although, this is slightly earlier than I've normally been waking up."

"Looks like someone is already waiting for us," Talwyn stated.

At the entrance to the building stood a tall and slim figure wearing robes of deep blue. It was Chairman Jarne. As the group got closer the Chairman raised a hand in greeting.

"Greetings everyone. We have already adjourned inside. Please, come and join us."

"He seems too cheery," Ratchet whispered to Adken, "I wonder what's got him in such a good mood?"

"Perhaps he got to pass some new laws or something?" The white furred Lombax shrugged, "If I were a politician that would cheer me up,".

Ratchet laughed in response, "You're pretty cynical about politicians pal."

"I suppose," Adken replied, "I know I should be less so but-"

Suddenly he realised that he had just entered the council buildings; "I'll leave that conversation for another time,".

"That'd be a good idea," Ratchet replied, still laughing.

"What are you two laughing at?" Talwyn had taken an interest in their conversation and had waited for the two Lombaxes leaving Clank to go ahead.

"Nothing," Adken replied smirking.

Talwyn sighed, grinning, "You two. You remind me of Zeph and Cronk with all your bantering." A sorrowful look crossed her face briefly before it passed away, "Anyway, let's go and see what the Chairman has to say."

Entering the Council room once more the group of four took their positions at the bottom of the table, Adken choosing to stay at the side again to allow himself a better view of what was transpiring. Leaning back against the wall, the sole of one of his boots resting against the surface, he crossed his arms and calmed his mind to allow himself to concentrate. His large ears sticking back prominently in preparation for listening.

Adken noted the presence of several of the Councillors that had been present at the last meeting; aside from Councillor Laurentius who was missing.

"Greetings once more fellow Councillors, and others," He glanced across the table at Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn not even looking at Adken. "I am sure you all understand why we have gathered here today; some have been waiting longer for this than others. Yet I know that you are waiting upon my decision as Chairman of this council as to whether we are to aid in the search for these mysterious 'kidnappers' of the various colonies from across the galaxy. I have full confidence in saying that,".

Talwyn rose up out of her seat slightly, Ratchet raised a single eyebrow whilst Adken merely watched and waited for the verdict. _Best not to get our hopes up. _He mused.

"I have been unable, and will be unable, to gather enough resources and troops to aid in this effort due to the lack of evidence and general support for the cause. I am sorry."

As the Chairman finished his sentence he strode out of the room and left the rest of the council to erupt into chaos. Insults were thrown at one another, blame put on everyone and no one at once, whilst Adken stood at the side listening and observing.

_There's no point in getting myself caught up in this. I'm an outsider here and have no clues about the various political machinations of different people. I'd best stay out of this. It seems like Ratchet and Clank have had the same idea._

The two companions were busy dragging Talwyn away from a rather surprised and shocked Terachnoid and out of the room.

"I'll give them a piece of my mind! The bastards!" She shouted back, brandishing a fist.

"Don't worry Tal, we can still do this on our own. Me and Clank have saved the Galaxy countless times haven't we pal?"

"I do not believe that she has calmed down Ratchet," The small robot responded.

"I'm a darn good shot. If any of you come near me again I'll-" Ratchet promptly covered up her mouth before any more profanity could spout out between her lips.

"Calm down Ms Apogee, you are making a bad impression to the people standing outside,". The Markazian glanced around and, upon noting that there everyone was staring at her, went silent. "You may let her go now Ratchet," Clank continued.

"Sorry about that Tal," Ratchet said sympathetically as he let her go, "You were just... Y'know."

"It's okay Ratchet... I over reacted; but next time they-"

"Tal?" Ratchet smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ugh, sorry Ratchet I just... Never mind. I'll leave you two and Adken to prepare for our trip then; I advise you get some new armour and weapons before we head out because we are most certainly going to need them."

"I've got my old set of Hyperflux gear lying around somewhere but I'll need to get Adken some sort of gear. All he has is the stuff that he found lying around on Fastoon which is most likely no better than wearing what he has now."

"Quite. Anyway, tell us when you are ready and we shall depart. See you soon!" She called back, walking away rather cheerily for someone who has, just a minute ago, been cursing at the highest ranking members of politics in the Solana galaxy.

"Well she was in a peculiar mood." Ratchet commented, "Anyway, where's Adken? We're paying a visit to Will again, we need some armour."

…

Half an hour later the trio passed under the small sign of William Pazner's shop, Ratchet having collected a rather large amount of bolts in case the armour ended up costing a lot, which he suspected it would. Even though Will specialised in Omniwrenches he still sold a plethora of items ranging from guns to some rather odd bathroom lotions, though Ratchet tended to stick with buying the former.

"Greetings again Ratchet and Clank! And where, pray tell, is that mysterious Lombax that was with you last time?"

"I'm here," Adken raised a hand in greeting.

"Good to see you both!" The Markazian moved out from behind the counter now to greet his customers, "How is the omniwrench faring for you?"

"Very well thanks, haven't got to use it in actual combat yet though." Adken replied cheerily.

"A shame, a shame. Anyway! I digress, what brings you here today?"

"We're looking for a set of armour for Adken, preferably good quality but nothing too expensive. I'm not made of bolts."

"I see. Well, I have a friend who is wanting to get rid of a set of hyperflux armour."

Ratchet argued back, "But that's incredibly-"

"And his payment method is not in bolts." William Pazner replied, "So, are you interested?"

"As suspicious as I am of you and your dealings, I suppose it's worth taking you up on the offer. We're going to need some very good quality armour from the looks of it. Has the hyperflux armour have any modifications installed? Camouflage, high speed nanotech circulation?"

"I am afraid I do not know that. Although, the supplier may be able to."

"Oh, hey there friend." A distinct voice emanated from behind Ratchet and Clank, Adken noting the presence of the person too. He had noticed them as they entered the room due to his ears picking up the rather loud foot falls of their boots. "In the market for some Hyperflux armour? I recently acquired it from some very kind Grummels. Although, they weren't too willing to part with it but we can skim over those details."

The yellow furred Lombax turned around to face the strange blue humanoid, the parrot on his shoulder sqwaking, "AWK, that's an angry Lombax, AWK."

"Too right," Ratchet muttered, "And why would you be in the market for Hyperflux armour then?" The Lombax inquired. "Last time we met you were trying to sell me hover boots. And besides, what brings you all the way over to the Solana Galaxy?"

"Well, it just so happens that I sell whatever I can get my hands on; and this armour is just that. Also my business has... _Expanded _since we last met so I'm now doing deals all across the universe. So, you up for getting some Leviathan souls?"

"I suppose so then," Ratchet replied, "If it means I can get this armour. I'm sure Adken will be willing to help, won't you pal?"

"Hmm? Yeah sure. Sounds good." The white furred Lombax replied.

"Well, that's settled then. I'll get some things ready then head out. Where do you want to meet us then to get these Leviathan souls? On Sarathos?"

"Sure thing. I'll mokey on over there in a while once you've headed out. See ya around!"

With that the smuggler disappeared back into the depths of the shop leaving Ratchet, Clank and Adken to depart, of course giving thanks to William Pazner for his help, and heading back to the apartment to gather their things before they headed out to find Aphelion and, then, on to Sarathos for Ratchet was certain that they would need armour for where they were headed.

As for Adken he was too preoccupied about other things to be worried about fighting Leviathans, let alone the gargantuan task of locating and searching this strange ship that they were trying to find far into the depths of the Solana galaxy. All that the Lombax wanted was to recover all of his memories; yet he suspected that even that would not give him all the answers he was seeking as the dreams he was having had brought to light even more concerns as to his actual past.

_What did Laura mean about not revealing my secret? The only way to find out would be to ask her, but that would be impossible. I still can't remember how I got here, let alone how to get back. I suppose I may find answers when we search for this ship; the inter dimensional technology may be of use... But until then, I should try and find more answers._


	10. Trust

A few days had passed since the council meeting. After Adken and Ratchet had met with the Smuggler they had departed immediately to retrieve the Leviathan souls for the armour. The trip had been fairly uneventful, merely a means for Adken to test out his training on something other than a holographic Agorian. However, at the moment he lay in bed brooding, which had become a habit of his.

_Why am I doing all of this? _He asked himself, _Surely I should be trying to find a way home. Yet... I've been here for over a month now. Even in that short space of time I have started calling this apartment and Veldin home; and I call Ratchet, Clank, Talwyn, Will, all the people who I meet and trust. I call them friends. Although should I trust them?_

The white furred Lombax let out a long sigh, _I shouldn't doubt them..._

His mind drifted for a few minutes, then resting on his memory of Darius – the stranger.

_I do wonder what he was on about._

_'Head to where you came from and find the bunker.'_

_The bunker? I'm assuming the 'where I came from' part is Fastoon. That's where I entered this universe. But the bunker... Perhaps Talwyn would know? Ratchet mentioned that she knows a fair amount about the Lombaxes. Or maybe even Ratchet himself. I'll mention it to them tomorrow. For now I need rest, these past few weeks have been wearing me down. Although that person..._

Adken thought back to the appearance of the person, which at the time had been obscured by the overly large hood that they had worn. However there was one thing that Adken had noticed, but had only recalled as of now. On Darius' wrist there was a slight raise where the vestments that he wore tightened slightly into the shape of what appeared to be some sort of watch.

_Or holo-guise! _The white furred Lombax now realised. Ratchet had mentioned to him a while ago about holo-guises and their function. _So they weren't all they seemed... Hmm, we don't know where he is now though. For all I know he could be on the other side of the universe. But I think over too many things. I should head out for a walk to clear my mind. I should be okay, I'll take my cloak just to be sure. And that chest plate of Hyperflux armour. I'm sure it'll fit under my top._

And so, donning the armour, which did in fact fit on snugly over his fur and under the shirt that he had decided to wear, Adken set out into Metropolis for a midnight stroll.

…

_This city is so beautiful at night. _The lombax mused, _all the lights and the occasional flying vehicle passing by is rather spectacular. It really makes me miss home some times..._

Suddenly, Adken's ears perked up upon hearing a noise coming from behind him. He quickly turned around to see who, or what, may be following him. When he glanced around there was nothing there. Cautiously turning back around he removed his omniwrench from his back and extended the handle to its full length; moving forward slowly, a step at a time, he began making his way back towards the apartment where he knew he could find safety.

Heading back down the street the slow walk gradually became a jog, then a run. The lights blurred into his peripheral vision as he ran, the only thought being to get to safety, away from the danger; albeit the slim chance of danger. Although... He was almost certain that the noise was of footsteps...

Rounding the last corner Adken sprinted even faster, adrenaline coursing through his body, as he dashed back through the doors of the bottom floor of the building. Taking gasps of air in Adken bent over, resting his hands on his knees from the physical exertion.

_That... Why did I react like that? _Even though he asked himself this, the lombax knew that he had sensed danger nearby. Although, that _sense _was still present.

_They may be outside, _he thought, _I should get back to the top floor. I'll take the lift. The building has security so I should be safe._

Pressing the button on the side of the lift Adken waited patiently for it to arrive, running a furred hand over his head.

_I should really get out of that habit. It makes my fur stick up._

After a minute the arrival of the lift was symbolised by a _ping _and the doors slid open. A black clad figure stood in the centre, hands held together behind his back.

"Hello." Adken said, uncertainty lacing his tone.

"Greetings Adken," The person replied, or at least Adken assumed they were a person. They seemed to be able to speak well enough; although their tone sounded familiar. After a moment mulling over it however Adken decided that he must have misheard them.

What appeared to be a somber grin stretched across the face of the person, or as far as Adken could tell from underneath their hood. He even thought he caught a glimpse of fur.

"Never trust anyone," Within the space of half a second the man reached under his cloak, took out a small item and swung at Adken. His reactions were too slow however, and the solid metal crunched against his temple sending him sprawling across the floor of the entry hall.

He was immobilised, the physical shock rendering him unable to move as the cloaked being knelt down in front of him. Putting his own face in front of Adken's. Underneath the hood he could make out more fur now, although the colour was hidden mostly by the darkness that shrouded his face, as well as familiar eyes staring out at him.

"I'm sorry," They muttered, bringing the object crashing down on Adken's head once more as the darkness fell down all around.


	11. Answers

Bright light shone down, piercing Adken's eyelids and bringing him back from his induced slumber. The lack of wind and the bright seemingly artificial lighting suggested that he was indoors somewhere. Where though, he could not be certain of. His thin blindfold obscured his vision slightly but not entirely. However his other sensory receptors, namely his large ears due to being a Lombax, picked up few others inputs. Aside from the dull hum of the lights were all that he could make out. Nothing could distinguish the place where he was being held to his room back at the orphanage.

_Where... Am I?_

The bright lights did not aid in clearing Adken's mind, causing him to struggle even more to comprehend what had happened earlier.

_How much earlier? _The ex-human's brain shot at him.

_I have no clue... _He threw back. _Maybe I'm suffering from concussion?_

A pang of worry shot through his furred body, the thought of having suffered brain damage twice within the past few weeks was deeply concerning. If he kept on getting into situations akin to this then it was a short road down to much more severe health issues. There was only so much nanobots could do, or that's what he assumed. But Adken decided to put those qualms to one side for the moment and instead he concentrated on the present. As far as he was aware he was sat down, which was a comforting revelation in spite of the many others things working against him. However, his hands were bound to the chair behind him as well as his legs being tied to the... _legs _of the chair. Still, this did not fully aid his current predicament. He felt a slight pressure on his legs from what he assumed were his trousers, stripped of armour of course. However there was no similar pressure on his chest or feet.

_At least they gave me some semblance of decency. _He mused.

Using his large sensitive ears, a vast improvement over his human ones, the Lombax tried to discern any further sounds that could hint at where he was being held. As he poured more effort into the task he managed to interpret more sounds that seemed to be coming from the rooms surrounding him. The faint sound of footsteps far away echoing of what must have been a corridor of sorts; fans whirring from a ventilation system and other vaguely mechanical noises emanated from the vicinity of where Adken was being held. After a brief moment the only sign of life, the footsteps that had been only a quiet noise to begin with, disappeared entirely leaving him alone once more.

Returning to his senses Adken took a deep breath and assessed the situation.

_The first thing that I need to do, _he began, _is get out of these bindings. But then I don't _have _any form of weaponry so escape would be incredibly risky..._

His posture lowered slightly at his partial defeat.

_No. I can't give in. However, I should at least find out why I'm here in the first place. I highly doubt it but perhaps I may be able to have an amiable conversation with these people. _A niggling doubt surfaced from the back of his mind _But surely if they've bound me like this then they are not on my side... Ugh! I just... I just... _The white furred Lombax let out a long sigh, _I just wish I could go home and get away from all of this. These adventures have been fun and all but somehow... I just feel lonely. This world, no, this universe is so _vast _that it's easy to feel alone. I've been torn away from the distractions and the things that kept me whole. If only there were a way back. I could visit the book store on the weekend and look at what books I haven't read yet; I can relax in my room at the orphanage..._

Again he sighed, trying to release the stress and anxiety that was building inside of him like a small storm; a storm that threatened to grow and burst out causing him to lose control of his emotions. A storm that he had to control. The most favourable option for the moment was to, of course, re-induce his slumber and wait until someone came to see him. Adken assumed that someone would come and find him at least, considering he was in some sort of building. Unless he'd just been left here to...

_No. I can't think about that. _Depression began to creep in, the product of his worries. _I should rest for now then at least I can think more clearly. _And so, submitting himself to sleep, Adken let his head slump slightly against the tufted fur on his chest and drifting off into the land of turmoil that contained his dreams, and his nightmares.

…

_Thud._

A heavy boot collided with the metallic floor.

_Thud, thud._

The sound was coming closer now, bringing Adken back to full awareness of his surroundings. Well, as much as his limited vision and movement could decipher of them at least. Closer still came the sound bringing a sliver of hope to Adken's heart at the prospect of being able to converse with someone. _At the very least I can find out _who _I'm being held by if not where as well. I need answers, lest my melancholic thoughts get the-_ He realised he had drifted off into those very thoughts he was about to mention. He cinched the stem of thought trails at their source before he let his mind distract him from the more important things at hand, or paw as it were.

The thuds of the potential sentient life form stopped for a moment. A faint sliding noise, from what Adken assumed was some sort of motorised door, came from his right bringing about the continued stomping of the boots getting louder. And louder. Until they came to a halt in front of him. The only sign that the Lombax could garner of it being someone that was stood in front of him now was the distinct humanesque shape that blocked out the dazzling lights that had been blinding him earlier. The creature, or human, or whatever species this _thing _was, appeared similar to the one that had abducted him earlier as now that the lighting had been obstructed, and thanks to the poor blindfold, Adken could make out the distinct curve of the hood over the abductor's head as well as the similar skinny build and small frame. At least, he assumed this was the person who had taken him. Nothing had certified that claim yet, but Adken was determined to get answers now. He pushed his worried thoughts to one side and attempted to utter a question only to be stopped by a hand pressing against his lips.

"Quiet, my little Lombax." Spoke the stranger with a peculiar tone.

One that Adken almost immediately recognised, for it was one he had heard recently. The sound was processed by his brain as it began to make the connections to whom the voice belonged to. A thought train shot back to the bar where they had met the strange hooded man. _Darius _he was called. At least that's who Adken assumed he was talking to, yet his fatigued state could be causing his ears to betray him.

"Darius? I know it's you!" His voice sounded weak, perhaps due to his fatigue. Adken knew that he had been driven to his limits recently what with fighting off Agorians as well as several other things. Until he had been brought to this world, or universe even, Adken had never even been in a proper fight with some_one. _Let alone strange thuggish intergalactic beings that were trying to kill him.

Realising that his thoughts had gotten the better of him again he returned to his previous train of thought.

"You! You were-"

"I know where _I_ was." The voice did not seem angry, quite the opposite. It even sounded smug and was dripping with confidence. "Yet you don't know where you are. And you are probably wondering why you were brought here, yes?" The stranger who seemingly now identified himself as Darius, although Adken was uncertain about his willingness to divulge that information albeit in an indirect manner, stepped back from Adken allowing him more room to take in his surroundings. "Oh I should remove the blindfold too, where are my manners?" He again spoke with the same tone; quite in contrast to the one that he had spoken with when they first met in the bar, the voice that he spoke with gave him an overpowering aura. His intonations weaning self doubt into Adken's mind whilst the hooded man, or whatever he was, removed the blindfold wrapped around Adken's visage.

Blinking several times to acclimatise to the slight increased brightness that now invaded his eyes Adken tried to glance around to garner any further information about the room he was in. However searching every facet of the metal coated walls, floor and ceiling all that could be discovered was that they were just that – metal coated walls, floor and ceiling. Aside from the chair that he was being confined to, and that was now beginning to become slightly uncomfortable, there were no other objects present in this room therefore it was safe to assume that they had been removed prior to his arrival for the faint marks of crates against the metal could be discerned from the change in tone of the wall.

"Now, I believe you had some questions?" 'Darius' asked in a kind tone, but it was not one that filled Adken with trust.

"I do." The Lombax snarled at his captor. "Why did you capture me?"

"That's simple really, for information_._"

Adken stared dumbfounded at the hooded figure, information_... But for what?__ I haven't experienced this universe for too long, all I can recall are some planet names and the names of those of importance in the council. What information would I have that he doesn't? _

"Information then?" Adken mumbled to himself, not expecting his captor to be able to hear.

"Quite so." The hooded male replied, his tone still brimming will cheer and glee contrasting Adken's mood greatly. "I suppose you're wondering why I'm telling you this though? If I were in your position then I would question the motives of my captor for doing such a thing."

Still lost in his thoughts Adken thought back to his first meeting with the mysterious hooded man, _Find the bunker, _The words rang through his head once more. "The bunker..." The young Lombax muttered, "Find the bunker." A question flung itself to the forefront of Adken's thoughts. Raising his voice he enquired, "What did you mean, 'Find the bunker'? A bit cryptic don't you think?" The change in direction of the conversation seemed to throw the hooded man off slightly. It had not been Adken's intention to do so yet it was a beneficial side effect. A grimace quickly shot across the man's visage. "The bunker? I see." The captor raised a gloved hand to his chin, which was hidden in the darkness that shrouded his face from view, and scratched it. He was now the one lost in his thoughts, not Adken. "My contact told me that you would know about the bunker..." Darius mused as if talking to himself, yet Darius was the one who had told Adken that very tidbit of information, or riddle as it may be, and the pondering of the supposed 'Darius' threw Adken off his train of thought entirely. _But Darius was... Then... Wait. _If his paws had been unbound then he would have planted one of them on his forehead in a face-paw, at least that was what he surmised it would be named. _He never _said _he was Darius. I need to think more logically. But this is no time to be criticising my stupidity, I can save that for later._

"What is your name?" Adken asked, more politely than his last question that he had posed to this strange individual. He wanted answers, not to insult this person.

"My name is one you should know. For we have met before."

_Oh what a surprise, classic villainous line. I feel almost as if I'm in a cheesy story right now. _Adken thought to himself bitterly, remembering many books that he had read with the atypical villains always stating their motives and plans so the hero could swoop in and save the day. _Yet is he a villain? I doubt it's as black and white as that. Morality, realistically, is grey in an area between the black and the white. But that's not really important now... _He chided himself for, again, getting lost in his thoughts.

"Then you know mine." It was not a question that Adken posed.

"Of course Adken. I'm someone who you know."

"Yeah I gathered that Mr 'I'm a stereotypical villain'" His normally calm demeanour was slowly being whittled away by the ramblings of this strange man, "Now just tell me who the hell you are." The last part almost came out as a growl which surprised both of them.

"No need to be so angry! And, contrary to your false beliefs, I am no villain. I merely need your help with garnering some information."

Adken growled again, "That's what a bloody villain would say!" He had truly lost his temper, being dragged to another world, attacked by mercenaries, having to deal with entirely alien politics, no pun intended, and now being _kidnapped _had driven the young Lombax to the end of his tether. "Just. Tell me. Who. You. ARE!" His voice had raised to a shout by the end of the sentence causing the hooded man to back away slightly in what appeared to be fear, although Adken could not be sure. He allowed himself a small grin at the thought that he had terrified even his own captor though he had his doubts that that was the case.

"I am William Pazner, lead scientist and weapons expert in the Brotherhood of Knowledge."

The dumbfounded look that Adken had adopted earlier now returned to his furred visage, his eyes widening and his pupils dilating as he now fully took in who it was that he was speaking to. The shock seemed to render him incapable of speak for his only utterance was, "b-b-but-b..."

Willaim Pazner drew back his hood to reveal his pink Markazian head which peered inquisitively at the Lombax that sat in front of him. "To quell any doubts," He explained, motioning to the hood that was now rested at the nape of his neck, "About my identity." It was his turn to sigh now, "I didn't expect you to get this angry abo-"

Drawn out of his shock induced stupor Adken now glared at the short Markazian that stood in front of him, his brow furrowed at the man who he had trusted. Albeit for a short amount of time, but the trust that they had founded was still there! Ratchet had trusted him, and that at least was enough to convince Adken of the legitimacy of this man's allegiances.

Until now.

"Angry?! Of course, I'm angry. Oh, because being knocked out cold in my own house, I mean the place where I was staying," He amended himself before continuing at full strength, his anger fuelling the tirade that was flying from between his lips, "And taken to who knows where by a mysterious hooded figure against my will is completely normal? Yeah sure. Maybe in some twisted alternate universe," Adken allowed himself a chuckle at the slight irony of that statement, "But not here." He only just realised he was hyperventilating from releasing all of the pent up stress from inside of him. Taking slightly deeper breaths he attempted to relax his contracted muscles. He felt his energy ebb slightly as he allowed himself to be induced into a calm state and prevent himself from ranting further.

"Yes... Quite. Well I do apologise for the whole 'tying up and blindfolding thing' but we cannot allow outsiders to know where we reside."

"So there are others then?" Adken questioned, attempting to be more reasonable in an effort to acquire more information from William, _It seems I am now the one garnering information, not him. _He mused within the confines of his mind.

"Of course." William answered, a slight hint of confidence returning to his tone. "In fact I have someone outside who you could meet, if that would make you more comfortable of course."

"Please, yes." Adken replied with relief. _Hopefully they aren't all as eccentric and mad as he is._

"I shall undo your bindings and bring him in. But you must promise me that you must not try to escape, okay?"

Reluctantly, Adken agreed. _There's no way I'm getting out of here anyway. I have no clue where I am and am unarmed and helpless in hand to hand combat. The only way I'm going to get out of this is by cooperating. _And so, restraining his urge to escape, Adken let his bindings be removed and stood up stretching his sore limbs. In an attempt to stand he pushed down on the sides of the chair and stood upright, almost faltering on the ascent. After a slight wobble due to what he assumed as fatigue he managed to right himself and regain full use of his enhanced limbs, at least compared to when he was a human. The faltering upon standing shot more doubts into his already ragged mind. _How long has it been since I've eaten, or even had something to drink? I can't have been out too long. _The rumble that conveniently emerged from his stomach countered his thoughts. Adken sighed. _Well now I have another thing to worry about._

The sudden burst of speech from his periphery brought the Lombax back to his senses, glancing around to see who it was that spoke.

"Hey man," A deep voice rumbled, "I'm Matthew Visible." The person in question was a tall man clad in the same robes as William Pazner. He too had joined his Markazian acquaintance in removing his hood. Matthew had a head of dark hair and a dark skinned face which seemed rather human, at least in comparison to most of the people whom Adken had met in this peculiar universe. The Lombax now noted that the robes had infinity symbols sewn into the top of the sleeves, near the shoulder. The symbol of the brotherhood, he assumed.

"Nice to meet you too... I guess," Adken took the hand that Matthew proffered in greeting, the human shaking it with vigour.

"Now William was just telling me that you do not know of the bunker too. But you said you'd heard of it, yeah?" Adken nodded curtly in agreement. This man was much more laid back and friendly than William had been; although the Lombax _had _pinned all of his stress and anger on the short Markazian so he was bound to be more inclined towards this new individual who had introduced himself. _Perhaps that's why he brought him in? To try and get me to relax more. _He allowed himself to calm down slightly more at the thought. _Perhaps I've been overreacting and all they did want was information. Although the way in which I was approached once I had been brought here- _He tossed aside the thought, _No. Focus on the present. Perhaps if neither of us know __everything__ about this 'bunker' then I could gain some insight into what this 'Brotherhood of Knowledge' has discovered._

"I don't know anything about it though," Adken replied meekly, now voicing his thoughts, "I have only heard the name. Nothing more."

"I see." The tall man scratched his chin, which was coated in thin stubble, thoughtfully taking his gaze away from Adken whilst he pondered. "Then you're looking for this place too, right?"

"Mhm" The Lombax nodded to confirm the agreement, "That I am."

"Then perhaps we could come to an arrangement?" Matthew raised an eyebrow and looked across at William who was staring intently at Adken. "What do ya think Will?"

"Yes. Yes I agree. You mentioned this Darius character, yes?" Again, Adken nodded, "Indeed. Perhaps we can find more answers from him that is, if you are willing to lead us to him?"

"Well." Adken began, a small smile curling his lips, "You did just try to kidnap me and you _do _need to make up for it. So if we can come to a mutual agreement, then that is reasonable." William opened his mouth to speak but before he could begin Adken raised a furred finger to silence the Markazian, "But." The Lombax began, "I'm not going to let you live this down. You owe me." This remark elicited a deep chuckle from Matthew. "He's right ya know WP. It was a bit unfair kidnapping him."

In a now surprisingly high pitched voice the Markazian protested gesticulating wildly with his short arms, "But I didn't want him running off and telling everyone! How was I to know he'd agree or not?" Matthew raised an eyebrow at his friend's remark, "Alright," Will continued, "It was stupid of me. I'll make it up to you Adken, I promised," He said in a sincere tone, "But you look famished. We shall eat first, and ask questions later so to speak!"

_Yes. _Adken mused, _yet I'm still searching for answers..._

**Author's note: Hey guys and girls. I guess I owe an apology, yet I fear that I can't really apologise enough for leaving you in the dark for so long.**

**I finished my exams two months ago, and got my results. I head off to university in three weeks and I should have continued writing but, to be quite frank, I just didn't have the motivation until now to carry on. I recently read Fallout: Equestria and that is what inspired me to continue writing; just the development and interaction of characters in that made me yearn to continue with my own story. Yet I feel like there are things that I did wrong earlier on in the story. Chapter length being the primary factor in that. I'm going to be doing some heavy formatting of the early story to combine some chapters together and edit some things but that shouldn't affect you guys.**

**Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I'm deeply sorry but I couldn't come back with no motivation and try to write something. It would just end up being utterly awful, and I know my writing isn't amazing anyway ^^ , and just not worth your guy's time. But yeah... Until next time folks. Hope you enjoyed.**


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